THE verdict of the judicial review into the controversial consultation which threatens the future of Southampton’s specialist children’s heart surgery unit will be revealed today.
After five weeks of deliberation, the High Court judge is expected to give his ruling, which will determine how long Have a Heart campaigners will have to wait for the final decision by health booses over which unit will close.
London’s Royal Brompton Hospital launched the legal challenge against NHS health bosses who led the review into children’s heart surgery, claiming the process was “deeply flawed”.
If successful, the legal bid could force health chiefs to revise the way they look at which centres must close.
That could mean the Safe and Sustainable consultation, which has been criticised for giving Southampton only a 25 per cent chance of surviving despite being the second best performing unit in the country, has to be rerun.
More than 250,000 people backed the Daily Echo’s Have a Heart campaign calling on the Prime Minister to safeguard Southampton General Hospital’s Ocean Ward.
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