THE campaign to keep lifesaving children’s heart surgery services in our region has now collected 300,000 signatures from concerned Yorkshire residents.

The figures come the day after the Save Our Surgery (SOS) campaign mounted a demonstration outside a public seminar in Leeds, where those behind the plans faced furious parents demanding that services stay at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and are not moved to Newcastle.

The forum was hosted as part of a consultation process by NHS chiefs into controversial plans to concentrate services in fewer, but larger, centres.

Sharon Cheng, director of the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, said the campaign failed to get an answer to any of its questions at the meeting.

She said: “I think we got a lot of our points across among all the emotion.

“Some of our parents got some strong points across.

“Why take a service away from an already built hospital?” she asked.

“The reconfiguration is welcome, but we need to put these services where the people are. 300,000 people have signed our petition”

She said she hoped the NHS chiefs at the meeting, which included Professor Roger Boyle, national director for Heart Disease and Stroke, would “go back to London and consider the strength of feeling.”

Prof Boyle stressedno decisions had yet been made on the future of the service, but said children would get better care if “we accept the need for change”.

He said: “We need to put the interests of children first and it is in their best interests to have surgeons and their teams working together in larger centres to deliver world class care, supported by specialist cardiac nurses and children’s doctors providing expert on-going care closer to where families live.

“There is clearly strong support for the unit in Leeds and we are grateful to those who took the time to tell us their views.

“I encourage as many people as possible to respond formally to the consultation.”