A GROUP representing 15 Yorkshire councils has called for a speedy resolution to talks about restarting children’s heart surgery in Leeds.

Surgery at the unit was halted last Thursday after NHS figures, which have since been criticised as flawed, suggested an abnormally high death rate.

Yesterday, the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Yorkshire and the Humber said it was imperative that the paediatric heart unit at Leeds General Infirmary resumes operations “as quickly as possible”.

The call came ahead of an NHS summit about the controversial closure today.

There was confusion late on Tuesday after it was reported that surgery was set to resume.

But NHS chiefs later confirmed that nothing had changed.

Chairman of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) for Yorkshire and the Humber, Councillor John Illingworth, said: “At this summit we are hopeful that the issues which resulted in the temporary closure will be fully addressed and that these critically important services will be immediately restored.”

All operations at the unit were suspended just 24 hours after a High Court judge ruled that a decision-making process to close the children’s unit as part of an England-wide reorganisation of services was “legally flawed”.

MPs will also be awaiting the outcome of Thursday’s meeting before deciding whether to ask the parliamentary Health Select Committee to investigate.