Final Report > Chapter 8: Paediatric Cardiac Surgical Services > The planning and funding of paediatric cardiac surgery for children under 1 year of age (neonatal and infant cardiac surgery) > Quality
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Quality
31 A paper produced by the DHSS in 1988 [23] stated that centres suitable for designation had to qualify as `centres of excellence': `Units which might qualify for this title are those where a special expertise had been developed in a particular area of medicine. ... All supra regional services will be provided in units which would fall within the "centres of excellence" definition.'
32 There was no evidence in the documentation available to the Inquiry that Bristol was regarded, either at the time of designation or subsequently, as a centre of excellence for NICS. In fact, Dr Halliday said that `Bristol did not actually shine as a star', whereas many of the other units did stand out. [24]
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Footnotes
[23] DOH 0002 0025 - 0027; DHSS Paper EL(88)P/153 `Centres of Excellence and Supra Regional Units' , dated 12 September 1988