CHILDREN awaiting heart operations in Swindon may have to travel as far as Southampton while paediatric surgery at John Radcliffe Hospital is suspended.

The John Radcliffe, in Oxford, halted heart surgery on children on Wednesday following the deaths of four young congenital heart disease sufferers within the past three months.

The hospital said the move was precautionary and there would be an external investigation into the reasons for the deaths, as the spate was unusual.

But Swindon youngsters cannot turn to GWH for complex procedures as the hospital does not have the resources to deal with such specialist ops.

Instead young patients may have to travel to Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, or Southamption University Hospital – almost 50 miles away.

Dr Stanley Zengeya, a consultant paediatrician at GWH, said: “The Great Western hospital does not perform children’s heart surgery, we usually refer patients to either John Radcliffe Hospital or the University Hospitals, Bristol.

“At the moment we only have a small number of patients awaiting heart surgery and they will be referred to another hospital such as Great Ormond Street or Southampton University Hospital.”

The families of children awaiting cardiac surgery are being contacted by the John Radcliffe, who will then place the patients who need to be seen urgently with other hospitals.

Each child will also be reviewed to ensure that they are not put at risk by any delay in their treatment.

A spokesman for the hospital, said: “We have temporarily suspended the paediatric cardiac surgery service while we investigate concerns raised.

“Our investigations are likely to include an external review of the deaths of some very sick children who underwent surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in the last three months.

“Any hospital might, at some time, have a run of deaths in a service that provides treatment for patients who are very unwell.

“However, it is right that we take a pause while we look into the cases, to see if there is anything to learn from them.

“Paediatric cardiac surgery outcomes are nationally validated and the data is published. Oxford has been within normal outcome ranges.

“This is one of the reasons why we felt it was necessary to take a close look at our service to ensure we continue to provide a high quality safe service for our children.”