CAMPAIGNERS fighting to keep children’s heart surgery at Southampton General Hospital dubbed the Secretary of State for Health a coward.
Families were waiting outside the hospital to confront Andrew Lansley but were left disappointed when he was ushered through the back door yesterday morning.
Mr Lansley, who was opening a new multi-million pound biomedical research unit, later agreed to speak to them about the consultation, which has put the city’s unit under threat.
During the meeting he was called a coward by parents who felt he had disrespected them by avoiding their protest.
Mr Lansley said the national review of children’s heart surgery was independent, but if there were serious concerns over the decision made at the end of the consultation, he would step in.
Mother Sam Prior pledged: “We will keep fighting.”
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