I’m really disappointed to hear of NHS England’s plans to close the children’s heart surgery unit at Glenfield Hospital. The unit provides a superb service to families throughout the East Midlands.

Decisions must be based on what’s best for children and the latest evidence on clinical outcomes shows that the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre is one of the best performing surgical centres in England.

Closing the unit would also compromise our paediatric intensive care unit, with a knock on effect on other vital children’s services in Leicester, and put at risk our world leading ECMO service which is the largest in the country, with the only national patient transport service.

Ensuring children get the very best quality of care is my absolute priority and I will work with the local community, clinicians and other MPs to fight this decision.

I am today writing to the Secretary of State for Health to set out my opposition to its closure and request an urgent meeting.

We successfully fought to save the heart unit in 2013 and we will now fight to save it again.