§ Mr. Robert Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the statement of the Under Secretary of State in the Adjournment debate on Forrester-hill hospital on 15 February that the debate on open-heart surgery was concerned with the medical question, whether, if Grampian area health board concludes that it is clinically possible to re-start open-heart surgery at Forrester-hill hospital, he will make available the required finance.
§ Mr. FairgrieveOn the basis of expert medical advice received in 1977, the Government's view is that the highest possible standards of open-heart surgery can best be developed and maintained in Scotland if this specialised surgical work is concentrated at centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Recently published medical evidence has confirmed that the death rate from open-heart surgery decreases markedly with increasing number of operations performed, and that the average death rates in hospitals carrying out only a small number of such operations annually are significantly higher than the rate which would be expected having regard to the type of case being treated. In view of this clear medical evidence, the Government would regret any decision which would enable a small number of open-heart operations to be undertaken in Forresterhill hospital, and would not encourage it by the special allocation of funds.