Labour’s dead babies

‘The death of a child is an unbearable sorrow that no parent should have to endure’ said Gordon Brown a year ago. And yet Labour’s record in providing safe services to critically ill babies is lamentable. Whatever cause the current inquiry finds for the deaths of four babies following heart surgery in Oxford, it’s patently clear that the unit simply isn’t fit for purpose. With just one dedicated paediatric cardiac surgeon (now departed) and one surgeon mixing adult and paediatric work, it beggars belief that – after the Bristol scandal – Labour could have allowed such a small unit to carry on performing such complex surgery.

This is not a new argument. Since exposing the Bristol scandal just 18 years ago, MD has argued ad nauseum that highly specialised healthcare must be concentrated in fewer units that are safely staffed and equipped. Hardly rocket science. The Kennedy Inquiry reached the same conclusion in 2001 and triggered an expert review, chaired by cardiac surgeon James Munro, which recommended that the number of child heart surgery centres be reduced to six. Labour ignored the recommendations. NHS Medical Director and cardiac surgeon Bruce Keogh realised that another disaster was imminent,

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