Closing cardiac units might be right, but it won’t be easy

Yesterday, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley reported to MPs on the state of the NHS. The state of the NHS, you’ll be relieved to know, is good, or at least it is in Mr Lansley’s estimation. Budgets are in surplus, waiting lists are down and, unless you are very unlucky, you won’t have to hang around for more than four hours in A&E before they see you. One thing, however, that the Health Secretary didn’t volunteer – curiously, since it was the biggest NHS news of the day – was the reorganisation of heart care for children, and the closure of three specialist surgery centres in England. This is probably just as well, for the man who is the ultimate source of what was announced yesterday is now in charge of MPs‘ expenses, and our legislators probably don’t want too much reminding of Sir Ian Kennedy’s existence.

It says on IPSA’s website that Sir Ian, its Chairman, is best known as the man who led the public inquiry into the deaths over a ten year period of several children and babies undergoing heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.