Young heart patients face delays in surgery

CHILDREN with heart problems are facing longer waiting times for surgery and treatment at the country’s main children’s hospital following concerns raised over a shortage of emergency facilities. Fears that children will die as a result, have been expressed by a patient welfare expert.

The number of children waiting between six months and a year for open heart surgery at Crumlin Hospital has risen by more than a third.

Figures from the group that arranges private treatment for long-waiting public patients show that in April last year eight children waited between six and 12 months for open heart surgery at the Dublin hospital.