THE PRIME Minister has defended the decision to suspend the review that had saved children’s heart surgery in Southampton from the axe.

David Cameron told the House of Commons that the Health secretary had “no choice” but to “rebegin” the whole process which started five years ago to improve services for babies born with heart conditions.

It is exactly a week after the decision by Jeremy Hunt, which yet again sees the future of the heart unit at Southampton General Hospital hanging in the balance.

The Prime Minister was responding to a question from Eastleigh MP Mike Thornton, who asked the Prime Minister to reassurance parents and staff at Southampton General Hospital, who have once again been left anxiously waiting for a decision.

He asked: “The children's heart unit at Southampton General Hospital is rated the best in the country outside London, yet the decision to suspend the Safe and Sustainable review process means more uncertainty for patients, their families and the unit's dedicated staff.

“What assurances can the prime minister give over the future of the unit and the time-scale of the review process?”

Mr Cameron responded: “I don’t think the Secretary of State really had any choice but to rebegin this whole process of looking at Safe and Sustainable in children’s hospitals, including Southampton, which is twinned with the hospital that serves my constituency.

“So I quite understand the frustrations about the time this is taking but most important of all is to make sure we get the decision right.”

Mr Hunt last week accepted the findings of the Independent Review Panel that he had instructed to investigate the decision to close four children's heart unit in the UK.

It found that the Safe and Sustainable review was based on “flawed analysis” and raised “serious criticisms” over the whole process which started five years ago to improve services for youngsters born with heart conditions.

He added that NHS England would have to report back to him by the end of July on how they would now move forward to make the changes.

This means that the future of the heart unit at Southampton General Hospital, which was saved last July when the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts decided it would become of the seven specialist centres, remains in the balance.

Staff, patients and their families threw their backing behind the Daily Echo's Have a Heart campaign to save the unit, which collected more than 250,000 signatures on its petition.

Now they face yet another agonising wait to see what the future will hold.