NORTH East MPs yesterday urged ministers to make any decisions on closing specialist children’s heart units solely on clinical grounds.

The call comes amid suspicions that a review of children’s heart surgery services is being hijacked for political reasons – specifically by some Yorkshire MPs – rather than to improve care.

An NHS review, currently out to public consultation, has recommended fewer and bigger centres to improve practice. Opponents fear families will have to travel hundreds of miles to access services.

Out of the four options put forward, three would see the unit at the Freeman Hospital stay open. In the final option, it would lose out to Leeds in Yorkshire. The review also said each unit should carry out 400 operations a year.

Newcastle East MP Nick Brown, whose constituency is home to the Freeman Hospital, said: “The clinical case for this exercise is pretty formidable.

“Clinical outcomes are better at high-volume centres, it is undesirable if clinical expertise is spread too thin. Apart from anything else it mitigates against the provision of 24-hour surgical cover.

“The increasing complexity of what can be achieved argues for fewer, specialist centres. It is easier for fewer units with larger caseloads to retain surgeons and develop expertise.

“Finally, strong leadership from surgical centres underpins non-surgical cardiology care in local hospitals.”

The Labour MP praised the “pioneering” work at the Freeman Hospital during a Commons debate on the future of children’s heart services.

But he told MPs: “We should think very carefully before trying to impose our political judgments, based on support for the constituencies we represent, over the judgments of the healthcare professionals who have studied the issues in detail and spoken so clearly about the clinical priorities involved for the whole country.”