Final Report > Chapter 9: The Paediatric Cardiac Surgical Service in Bristol > The organisation of paediatric cardiac surgical services in Bristol > The place of PCS services in the system of clinical directorates

The place of PCS services in the system of clinical directorates [6]

8 Throughout the period of our Terms of Reference, there was a Division, and from 1991 a Directorate, of Children's Services which covered all services provided at the BRHSC, including all paediatric cardiology and closed-heart surgery.

9 That said, all of the components of the PCS service - paediatric cardiology and open- and closed-heart surgery - were only grouped together in terms of management for the first time in October 1995. Prior to that time, the various components were managed separately. These separate managerial arrangements principally reflected what was provided in the two buildings: the BRHSC on the one hand, and the BRI on the other. [7]

10 Until March 1993, paediatric open-heart surgery was included in one of the associate directorates of the Directorate of Surgery. In April 1993 new `disease-based' (and, in effect, building-based) rather than `profession-based' directorates were introduced. A new Associate Directorate of Cardiac Services was created, covering adult cardiology, and adult cardiac surgery and paediatric open-heart surgery.

11 It was not until October 1995, as has been said, with the move of paediatric open-heart surgery to the BRHSC, that PCS services were finally united in one directorate: the Directorate of Children's Services. (A counterpart for adult cardiology and cardiac surgery - the Directorate of Cardiac Services - was created at the same time.)

Figure 3: How the paediatric cardiac service fitted into the clinical directorate system

Footnotes

[6] See Figure 3: How the paediatric cardiac service fitted into the clinical directorate system

[7] See Figure 1: Location of relevant Bristol Hospitals during the period of the Inquiry's Terms of Reference