Parents frustrated over lack of hospital beds for baby needing heart device

The parents of a three-month-old boy who they fear has just days to live say they're frustrated at being unable to access lifesaving treatment due to a lack of suitable hospital beds.

Dylan and Catrin Green, from Cardiff, said their "completely healthy baby" Macs started to struggle with his feeding, then caught a cold before later suffering two cardiac arrests.

He has been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, external - a condition which can lead to heart failure - and now has a "matter of days" on a machine which pumps oxygen into his bloodstream, Dylan said.

He urgently needs a Berlin heart , external- a device used to take over the function of a child's own heart until a donor heart becomes available.

His family said Macs has been stuck at a specialist unit in Bristol for weeks, where his condition has since deteriorated and was now in an induced coma, as the beds he needs were not available.

The two specialist hospitals in the UK where the Berlin heart can be fitted are Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

The NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (NWJCC) said it recognised the "difficult and stressful time this must be for Macs' parents, family and friends".

It said, while funding was available for patients who required highly specialised services, capacity was managed on a UK-wide basis, and access to treatment was determined through clinical assessment.

"We understand that the specialist teams involved in Macs' case remain focused on supporting him to ensure he receives the care and treatment he needs."