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The new Congenital Heart Disease review: 34th update

Since the publication of this blog John Holden has left NHS England.

Your feedback

We’ve had a query about the data we use to understand activity levels for CHD, and whether we include private patients, or those from the Republic of Ireland, etc. It seems there is some misunderstanding about this, so to help explain our approach we’ve produced a short note which you can read here.

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I explained in blog 32 that after taking advice and considering the issues, we made a conscious decision not to commission translations of all the CHD consultation materials “just in case” they were needed. However, we have heard a clear message from local government colleagues that they think the provision of some core information in languages other than English is essential. We discussed this at our last Programme Board, and as a result we have arranged for translated summaries of the main points of the consultation, and translated response forms. These are now available in Polish (Polski), Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਦੇ), Hindi (हिन्दी), Gujurati, (ગુજુરાતી), Urdu (اردو) and Tamil (தமிழ்): which can be accessed here.

Please help us by making the translated materials available within your local networks. We will continue to work with the Race Equality Foundation, community organisations and others to ensure the consultation reaches the widest possible audience.

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Patients, families and their representatives

We have now held a number of consultation events around the country including London, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leicester and Leeds. We have had requests for the exhibition boards to be circulated in a digital format for those who haven’t been able to attend the events. We are happy to help – you can find the exhibition boards here.

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If you would like to attend one of the remaining events, the dates and locations are listed on our web site and places can be booked on line. It is not essential to book before attending, but it does help us to have an idea of the likely numbers.

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I attended the North East Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) in South Shields on 29 September, with Dr Mike Prentice, who is NHS England’s acting Area Director for Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne & Wear. I gave a short presentation and Mike and I answered questions from the Committee. I also attended the Yorkshire & Humber JHOSC, on 17 October, with Moira Dumma who is NHS England’s Area Director for West Yorkshire. I gave the usual (!) short presentation. In addition the JHOSC asked for an explanation of how the new CHD review takes account of the findings of the 2013 Independent Reconfiguration Panel report into Safe & Sustainable; I provided a brief report which you can read here. Moira and I answered questions from the Committee.

Clinicians and their organisations

Our Clinicians’ Group, chaired by Professor Deirdre Kelly took place in London on 8 October 2014. The notes from that meeting are available here.

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Our Provider Group, chaired by Chris Hopson took place on 20 October 2014.

A copy of the presentation for this meeting which included the agenda, can be accessed here and the draft meeting notes can be viewed here. The notes from the Provider meeting held in May were not widely circulated so for completeness they can be found here.

NHS England and other partners

Our Programme Board met on 23 October 2014 and the agenda and papers are available here.

John Holden was previously Director of Policy, Partnerships and Innovation, since the publication of these blogs he has left NHS England.

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One comment

  1. Disinterested Bystander says:

    The comment mentioned at the top of this blogpost was mine, it was in response to a previous commenter who had linked to a consultation response by the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre, which had referenced those figures, and wasn’t a reference to anything NHS England had produced. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear.