Safe and Sustainable has launched a public consultation on the future of children’s congenital heart services. The Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) - the decision making body that represents all PCTs in England - met on 16 February 2011 and approved recommendations for public consultation.

The public consultation
The NHS would like views from the public about the proposed changesincluding the people most affected: parents, young people and NHS staff.The public consultation runs until 1 July 2011.

For further information on the public consultation please visit:
www.specialisedservices.nhs.uk/safeandsustainable

We are consulting on the following key areas:

• Standards of care: proposed national quality standards of care to be applied consistently across the country
• Congenital heart networks: development of networks to coordinate care and ensure more local provision (e.g. assessment, ongoing care)
• Options for fewer surgical centres:to improve outcomes for children’s heart surgery in the future
• Better Monitoring: improvements for analysis and reporting of mortality and morbidity data