Baby boy with congenital heart disease airlifted to Italy after NHS hospital says he is too sick for surgery

10 comments

1. [deleted]

2. > Mr Pillon said: “The operation was available in the UK, but the doctors decided that, following the protocols of the UK, the baby was not fit for the operation. They decided that he was too ill.

   Then the doctors did what was right imo. I remember reading about the Archie Battersbee case and was aghast that parents would subject such an ordeal to their child. Lo and behold, I find out there were Evangelicals pulling the strings.

   I am not sure why but I feel personally attacked (/s) when people / organisations want to paint the NHS doctors as the bad guy. Like no, that is not going to work here.

3. >He underwent surgery this week at the Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital, and is now recovering. Italian doctors said he is “fighting” and “wants to live”.

   If he pulls through then serious questions need to be asked of the hospital.

4. > He underwent surgery this week at the Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital, and is now recovering. Italian doctors said he is “fighting” and “wants to live”.

   Hmm….it’s not a great look for the NHS on the face of it but I guess time will tell.

   Anecdotally, I have a heart child who needed big, immediate, surgery post birth and I genuinely can’t fault a single thing with the way it was dealt with. I’ve no doubt the doctors and surgeons would have made a decision together and felt genuine and confident in it

5. It doesn’t sound as acrimonious as this article suggests.

   From another one:

   >The baby’s Italian father told The Times: “My wife and I are very happy and relieved… [Meloni and the Italian authorities] actively took action to make the transfer of our son possible.”

   >The father also thanked the British medical team “for smoothly authorising and supporting us and our son through this process”.

6. For those unaware, Bristol has some of the top heart surgeons not just in Europe, but in the world. It is home of the Bristol Heart Institute and the Bristol Children’s Hospital which work hand-in-hand for these kind of scenarios.

   If they decided they were unable to treat the child, then there is good reason. 

7. I think it’s selfish of the parents to want to keep their child alive at any cost, considering the poor baby is in pain and the prognosis was bad.

8. I had a heart op at 2 years old. 7 babies had the same operation that year. Only 2 survived me included in that. I’m glad they waited until I was healthy enough to have op. Maybe that’s what they wanted to do here.

9. So basically it was too dangerous to do in the UK but ok in Italy which is why the NHS supported the transfer.

   It’s probably an indication of how bad things are here rather than the skillset of the medical team.

10. It’s an odd one.

    Italy’s medical system, as the name of the hospital itself implies, is very heavily influenced by Catholic social dogma. Suffering or quality of life does not enter the equation when there is the potential for life to continue nonetheless.

    That said. I wouldn’t rush to judge eitherway. The NHS already has an atrocious track record on this front (see Ashya King). Our doctors clearly sometimes make horrendous decisions so I’m glad they had a bit more sense this time round and didn’t turn into terminators chasing the kids parents across Europe for questioning them.