The fight for this world-renowned centre, specialising in EMCO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) treatment to children, has been going on for several months now and Sir Edward is determined to make sure the new Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, knows exactly how the residents of Leicestershire feel about the centre being relocated to Birmingham. In an email to Mr Hunt on 12 September, Mr Garnier wrote “[I] hope that you will swiftly review this decision.”
Mr Garnier said “We have a world-leading service right here in Leicestershire and it would be a shame to let it slip away without making our feelings made clear to the Department of Health. I have been in touch several times with the former Health Secretary, the Rt Hon Andrew Lansley CBE MP, about this but now we have new ministers in the Health Department, it is our duty to show them how passionate we are about our hospitals in Leicestershire.”
An e-petition that was released shortly after the decision was announced to move the Peadiatric Congenital Coronary Care Unit to Birmingham has now attracted more than 60,000 signatures. Two of Mr Garnier’s constituents, Mrs Marie Gee and Susan Gee of Great Glen, collected 626 signatures outside a local supermarket, which Mr Garnier sent on to the former Health Secretary with a letter galvanising the spirit of the petition. The former Minister of State for Health, the Rt Hon Simon Burns MP, wrote back to Mr Garnier confirming that Mr Lansley had written to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP), who are due to report back on 21 September and that the initial decision will stay until then.
Sir Edward commented: “We have but a week to go until the IRP reports back to the Department of Health with their findings and should maintain pressure on the Department about how strongly we feel about keeping the Heart Unit at Glenfield”.