Leicester Tigers fans can now show their support for the Children's Heart Services team at Glenfield Hospital and attempts to safeguard it future.
NHS England intend to decommission Children’s Heart Services at the Leicester hospital and Tigers are supporting the Glenfield team in their attempt to force fresh debate on whether to reopen public consultation to examine the decision.
The unit is among the best-performing centres in England and is on target to meet the figure of 125 cases per surgeon.
Tigers players made their Christmas trip to Glenfield a couple of weeks ago and saw at first hand the work of the team there.
A team of Glenfield supporters will be at Welford Road this Sunday and the Tigers Family will be able to sign their petition in the Final Whistle or you can sign up online now by clicking here. If they collect enough signatures, the petition can force fresh discussion on their future services.
Click here to sign up now.
Here is one of the personal stories to highlight the work of the Glenfield unit:
“George was born in October 1996. He had no obvious signs of having a heart condition. He struggled to feed and did not really put on weight. I knew there was something not right, but never once did I suspect it was so serious.
Within a few weeks he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. Frighteningly, it meant that there were four things wrong with his heart and he would need a number of surgeries to hopefully correct the problems.
Absolutely nothing can prepare you for how it feels to hand over your tiny baby to strangers and watching as they wheel him into theatre. But, thanks to the care and skill of the staff, we were able to take George home and spend our first Christmas with him and his older brother.
We then began 20 years of frequent hospital appointments, monitoring and tests.
When George was 16 months, he had his first open-heart surgery. We were told he would be in intensive care for at least a week, though he made a rapid recovery.
George couldn’t walk until after this surgery, as he had no energy. Afterwards, he was like a little dynamo. He spent his entire childhood running everywhere and being into everything.
A few years ago, when he was 16, he had further open-heart surgery. He faced this with amazing maturity and recovered incredibly well. A week after leaving hospital, he collected his exam results and enrolled on a performing musician course at college.
He will need more surgery as he gets older but has matured into a funny, bright, talented and wonderful young man.
We have had 20 years with our son which we would never have had without the skill and care of the Glenfield and its wonderful staff.
Our whole family took part in the campaign to save the Children’s Heart Unit at the Glenfield when it was threatened four years ago and we have joined the fight again.
The Glenfield is a world-renowned heart unit, performing some of the most complex surgeries on very sick children.
It is the only children’s heart unit in the East Midlands and if it closes, there will be nothing on the eastern side of the country between Newcastle and London.
Heart disease can affect any child at any time. It could be a member of your family, or the baby next door, or your child’s best friend at school.
Please support the hospital and its fight to continue to provide the fantastic care it already does. Please sign the petition.”
NHS England intend to decommission Children’s Heart Services at the Leicester hospital and Tigers are supporting the Glenfield team in their attempt to force fresh debate on whether to reopen public consultation to examine the decision.
The unit is among the best-performing centres in England and is on target to meet the figure of 125 cases per surgeon.
Tigers players made their Christmas trip to Glenfield a couple of weeks ago and saw at first hand the work of the team there.
A team of Glenfield supporters will be at Welford Road this Sunday and the Tigers Family will be able to sign their petition in the Final Whistle or you can sign up online now by clicking here. If they collect enough signatures, the petition can force fresh discussion on their future services.
Click here to sign up now.
Here is one of the personal stories to highlight the work of the Glenfield unit:
“George was born in October 1996. He had no obvious signs of having a heart condition. He struggled to feed and did not really put on weight. I knew there was something not right, but never once did I suspect it was so serious.
Within a few weeks he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. Frighteningly, it meant that there were four things wrong with his heart and he would need a number of surgeries to hopefully correct the problems.
Absolutely nothing can prepare you for how it feels to hand over your tiny baby to strangers and watching as they wheel him into theatre. But, thanks to the care and skill of the staff, we were able to take George home and spend our first Christmas with him and his older brother.
We then began 20 years of frequent hospital appointments, monitoring and tests.
When George was 16 months, he had his first open-heart surgery. We were told he would be in intensive care for at least a week, though he made a rapid recovery.
George couldn’t walk until after this surgery, as he had no energy. Afterwards, he was like a little dynamo. He spent his entire childhood running everywhere and being into everything.
A few years ago, when he was 16, he had further open-heart surgery. He faced this with amazing maturity and recovered incredibly well. A week after leaving hospital, he collected his exam results and enrolled on a performing musician course at college.
He will need more surgery as he gets older but has matured into a funny, bright, talented and wonderful young man.
We have had 20 years with our son which we would never have had without the skill and care of the Glenfield and its wonderful staff.
Our whole family took part in the campaign to save the Children’s Heart Unit at the Glenfield when it was threatened four years ago and we have joined the fight again.
The Glenfield is a world-renowned heart unit, performing some of the most complex surgeries on very sick children.
It is the only children’s heart unit in the East Midlands and if it closes, there will be nothing on the eastern side of the country between Newcastle and London.
Heart disease can affect any child at any time. It could be a member of your family, or the baby next door, or your child’s best friend at school.
Please support the hospital and its fight to continue to provide the fantastic care it already does. Please sign the petition.”
