YORK and North Yorkshire residents are being urged to make their voices heard to help protect and shape the future of surgery for people born with heart problems.

Regional charity Children’s Heart Surgery Fund is staging a special drop-in event in the city on Sunday to provide former patients, their families and the public with the opportunity to feed back on a new review of congenital heart surgery in the UK.

NHS England, which is leading the review, has drawn up new standards for how congenital heart surgery is provided across England, including at the Yorkshire heart unit at Leeds General Infirmary .

The standards describe how services should be organised and provided to achieve the highest quality for patients throughout their lives. They cover 13 areas including communication with patients and their families; staff and skills needed in teams; working with other healthcare services patients might need and support for patients and their families when their disease is not responsive to treatment.

The drop-in session on Sunday is open to all, between 11am and 1pm at the Marriott Hotel, Tadcaster Road.