The Sunday Telegraph yesterday revealed that the government is to close five specialist centres for heart surgery for children. These are the smallest of the 11 centres at the moment.
It is possible to see the potential advantages, - fully used specialist staff and expensive equipment, with fewer units of that equipment.
The problem, which we have seen in this area, is that once you remove an important service the hospital losing it is on a downward slope to further downgrading.
So while it may make economic sense and even medical sense, the end result will be regional centres. We here could soon be 25 miles from full A & E services, which could mean the difference between life and death, but for those without cars it means a two or three bus journey and up to 3 hours each way to visit relatives in hospital.
In the case of the children's heart facilities, it seems that 6 or 7 hospital centres will serve the whole country, and some people will have a very long way to travel.
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