LEEDS CHILDREN'S HEART SURGERY UNIT

That this House commends the surgeons and staff at the Children's Heart Surgery Unit at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) for their skill and dedication in caring for their patients; notes that the LGI is at the forefront of work on inherited cardiac conditions; recognises that the Unit serves a population of 5.2 million people in Yorkshire and Humber and Lincolnshire and North Derbyshire regions, which is one of the highest population catchment areas of all children's heart surgery units in England; is concerned that, if it is closed following the Safe and Sustainable review, nearly 300 families and their sick children whom the Unit currently helps each year would face the significant distress and cost of having to travel to other facilities at an already difficult time in their family life; further notes that the Leeds Unit has the capacity to expand and is centrally located in the North to serve patients from outside the current catchment area; and calls on the Government to keep the Unit open and to invest in its future.