Heart therapy cuts to be reviewed

Patricia Hewitt said she wants to look at the decision in detail

The health secretary has called for a full report into why a hospital has stopped offering patients the heart treatment which Tony Blair underwent.

Cardiac ablation therapy will no longer be available to most patients at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford.

Patricia Hewitt, who has criticised hospital bosses for failing to manage their budget, said she wanted to look in detail at why the decision was made.

A hospital spokesman said a report would be completed by Friday.

CATHETER ABLATION A wire catheter is fed in through a vein in the groin, up to the heart Electrical sensors at the tip of the catheter allow the surgeon to find the short circuit The catheter then delivers electrical pulses which destroy - ablate - the short circuit

Ms Hewitt has previously denied that waiting list targets forced the hospital to stop the routine operation and has blamed its bosses for failing to manage their budget effectively.

Ms Hewitt said on Wednesday: "I have asked for a full report into what is going on there and will be looking at the details of why that decision was made."

Up to 100 patients are thought to have been affected by the decision to cut the procedure, which was backed by the Oxfordshire NHS Priorities Forum, a county-wide clinical advisory group.

The therapy - which can free patients from feeling dizzy and tired - uses radio frequency energy to correct abnormal heart rhythms.

A spokesman for the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust said that the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority had been asked to review the situation.

A report would be made to the department of health by the end of the week, he added.