HEALTH chiefs say campaigners across Yorkshire will get another chance to influence their final decision on the future of children’s heart surgery at the Leeds General Infirmary.

Despite widespread opposition to the suggested closure of the Yorkshire children’s heart unit at the LGI, the favoured option is to close it and relocate heart services to either Newcastle or Liverpool.

It would mean a long trip to Merseyside or Tyneside for Huddersfield families and children who have heart conditions.

But campaigners have received new hope after an announcement by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

The panel – which provides advice to the Secretary of State on contested proposals for health change in England – has concluded that vital research on where local people would travel to, if the facilities in Leeds were forced to close, should be considered as part of the final decision.

As a result, the Joint Chairs of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) – who will make the final decision on whether to close the unit – has asked local people to contact them if they have any comments about how travelling to another centre will affect them.

Linthwaite mum Gaynor Bearder, who has been a leading light in the campaign, is delighted with the announcement.

Gaynor’s son Joel underwent life-saving treatment at the Leeds unit.

She said: “I think that’s amazing news. I’m really quite giddy now I’ve found that out.

“It just shows that they’ve taken into consideration the views of local people who use the service.

“There’s 600,000 people trying to keep the unit and saying that they will not travel to Newcastle like we’ve been told.”

Assumptions were initially made by the NHS Safe and Sustainable review that if the Leeds unit was forced to close patients would have to travel to Newcastle as an alternative site.

However, in a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, people across the region said they would choose to travel to the Liverpool or Birmingham units instead.

Campaigners say this highlights the importance of keeping the unit in Leeds open as it provides services to 5.5 million people, with a population of 14 million within a two hour drive of it.

Director of the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, Sharon Cheng, said: “With patient choice enshrined at the heart of the NHS’s constitution and the fact that many parents have clearly told us that they will not travel to the unit in Newcastle, I believe our case to retain the unit in Leeds is stronger than ever.

“Even if decision makers completely ignore the NHS constitution and trample all over the concept of patient choice, Newcastle will still struggle to get the number of patients it needs.”

The deadline for public comments is April 16.

To have your say email Christy.Rowley@nsct.nhs.uk or write to Christy Rowley, Safe and Sustainable, National Specialised Commissioning Team, 2nd Floor, Southside, 105 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QT.

Please give a personal insight into how the closure of the Leeds unit would affect you from a travel point of view.

For more information on the fight to save vital heart surgery services in Yorkshire and to find out how you can help visit www.chsf.org.uk