14/10/2014

All-Ireland Single Surgical Children's Heart Unit Announced

Ministers from the north and south have agreed that paediatric heart surgery in Ireland will be focused in a single surgical centre in Dublin.

The decision brings an end to the uncertainty of children's heart operations in the north, with Northern Ireland's Health Minister, Jim Wells, confirming the service would end in Belfast.

In its place a cardiac centre of excellence will be established in Belfast to provide diagnostics and aftercare to northern-based children with congenital heart defects.

The new single all-Ireland surgical unit will be established at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin.

It is understood the single surgical unit will undergo a public consultation before being finalised, and that it could take around 12 to 18 months for the new unit to be fully operational.

(MH)

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