Parents will now be able to judge the best specialist heart disease centres in the UK to send their children.
For the first time, the Information Centre for health and social care has launched a new website detailing survival rates at specialist UK centers.
The site profiles every congenital heart disease center in the UK, including the number and range of procedures and survival rates for the most common types of treatment.
Specialists from The Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland and The British Congential Cardiac Association helped develop the website, which is funded by the Healthcare Commission.
The IC’s chief executive, Denise Lievesly, said: “This is the first time any country in the world has information of this type available to parents and carers and we hope it helps and reassures them.
“We hope parents find the website a useful, additional source of information and that it helps them when discussing their child’s treatment with their doctor or specialist.”
Bruce Keogh, commissioner of the Healthcare Commission, says heart centres have risen to the challenge by presenting their results for public scrutiny.
He adds: “Parents can be reassured that the quality of treatment in the UK is as good, if not better, then anywhere else in the world.”
