Youngest heart implant patient recovering from transplant
A one-year-old baby is recovering from a heart transplant at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
The family of Carina Marcangelo say she is in a critical condition following surgery on Sunday but making steady progress.
Carina's family say she is in a critical condition but is making steady recovery
Carina had a disease which damages the heart and became the youngest person in Britain to be fitted with a mini-defibrillator.
Carina has cardiomyopathy which damages the heart. She spent her first birthday completely sedated on life support at the Royal Brompton as she awaited a donor organ.
Carina, became the youngest child to be fitted with a mini defibrillator (ICD) in her chest in November
She became the youngest child to be fitted with a mini defibrillator (ICD) in her chest in November at just 9 months old. The device gave her heart a shock if its rhythm worsened.
Carina could only receive a heart from a one-year-old to a small five-year-old. The average waiting time for a heart is around 3 months.
Carina is the youngest patient to be fitted with a mini defibrillator
One year old Carina has cardiomyopathy which damages the heart. She spent her first birthday last week completely sedated on life support at the Royal Brompton where she is waiting a heart transplant.
She became the youngest child to be fitted with a mini defibrillator (ICD) in her chest in November at just 9 months old. The device gives her heart a shock if its rhythm worsens.
Carina after her operation
Carina can only receive a heart from a one year old to a small five year old. The average waiting time for a heart is around 3 months and the family have now been waiting three months.
Her father Darren Marcangelo is urging the government to create an opt-out organ donation scheme instead of the current opt-in system. He'll be speaking to London Tonight at 6pm.
The Royal Brompton Hospital has lost the battle to save its children heart surgery unit.
The closure of the Royal Brompton unit is part of plans aimed at streamlining paediatric heart services. Credit: ITN
The pioneering hopsital in Chelsea has been warned that such services will now be concentrated at two other hospitals - Great Ormond Street and the Evelina.
The defeat is the end of a long campaign, which was fought all the way to the Court of Appeal by campaigners hoping to save it.
The Royal Brompton hospital has said it tried to avoid taking expensive legal action to keep open its children's heart unit. In a statement, the hospital's trust said it had been left with no choice:
"When serious assaults are made on patient care, when groundbreaking research teams who may be on the cusp of a significant breakthrough in cystic fibrosis tell us their research will not be possible under the proposals put forward, drastic measures are called for.
"We had to fight to protect the needs of patients - now and in the future. What better cause is there than the health of vulnerable children?"
Heart charity 'horrified' by cost of legal challenge
The Children's Heart Federation charity has said it is "horrified" by the bill run up by the Royal Brompton Hospital, in its courtroom battle with another NHS body.
The hospital had challenged a consultation by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts, which had proposed closing the children's heart unit at the Royal Brompton.
The charity has urged other hospitals not "to waste this level of money on further legal action".
Royal Brompton loses appeal: the latest from the High Court
Campaigners fighting to save a children's heart surgery unit have been left disappointed after the Court of Appeal ruled that consultations which proposed its closure were lawful.
Bosses at the Royal Brompton in Chelsea now fear that, if the current plans are approved, the future of the entire hospital could be under threat.
But those involved in the planning say no final decision has yet been made.
Final decision on Royal Brompton's heart unit is yet to be made
Although the Royal Brompton Hospital lost its case in the High Court today, a final decision on the future of its children's heart unit is yet to be made.
Proposals outlined by the NHS would see the number of children's heart units in London cut from three to two.
That would see the Royal Brompton's unit closed - leaving units at only Great Ormond Street and the Evelina Children's Hospital at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Trust.
But the final decision will not be made until later this year.
Sir Roger Boyle, former national director for heart disease and stroke, said:
“I am very pleased that three Court of Appeal judges have found the "Safe and Sustainable" process for the public consultation to be fair, lawful and proper and that they have dismissed all of the unfounded allegations raised by the Royal Brompton Hospital. Today’s judgment is an important milestone for children with congenital heart disease as it brings improvements to their services a step closer.
“This is a landmark judgment for future NHS reconfigurations. The Court of Appeal has recognised that the process of public consultation – not costly litigation – is the most appropriate way for public bodies to express their views on proposed changes. The NHS must ensure that the clinical benefits for children and other patients come first – not the vested interests of individual hospitals.
“Now that the "Safe and Sustainable" consultation is no longer quashed, the Joint Committee is able to consider people’s consultation responses and the other evidence received. With an open mind the Joint Committee will give further consideration to options for change that include three surgical centres in London and to new proposals that have been submitted during consultation. The decision making committee will carefully consider all the evidence and prepare to make a final decision at a meeting in public on 4 July 2012.”
The Court of Appeal earlier decided that consultations - which led to proposals to close the children's heart unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital - were lawful.
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust reacts to the judgement
The Royal Brompton Hospital has lost its Appeal Court challenge over consultations that led to a proposal to close its children's heart surgery unit.
Here are some extracts from a statement released by the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust following the judgement:
“We remain convinced that there is a vital role for specialist cardiac and respiratory care for children and older patients to be fully integrated in a specialist Trust such as ours, which works with the significant research power of our partner Imperial College. We remain convinced that our highly respected services for patients in England and Wales will be harmed if our unit is dismantled."
“We regret that resources have had to be diverted to this legal case, but when serious assaults are made on patient care, when internationally acclaimed clinical teams are effectively put on notice, when groundbreaking research teams who may be on the cusp of a significant breakthrough in cystic fibrosis tell us their research will not be possible... then drastic measures are called for.
"We had to fight to protect the needs of patients - now and in the future. What better cause is there than the health of vulnerable children?”
