Children's heart operations are set to be delivered on a cross-border basis from a single surgical centre in Dublin.
The joint policy statement from Minister for Health Leo Varadkar and his Northern Ireland counterpart Jim Wells will bring an end to scheduled paediatric heart surgery in Belfast.
While surgical services will cease in Belfast, a cardiac centre of excellence will be set up in the city to provide diagnostics and aftercare to northern-based children with congenital heart defects.
The single all-Ireland surgical unit will be based in Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin.
The plan, which will be subject to public consultation before it is rubber-stamped, is in line with recommendations made by an international working group commissioned to examine the issue of children's cardiac services in Ireland by Mr Varadkar's and Mr Wells’ respective predecessors in office, James Reilly and Edwin Poots.
The group of experts concluded that the relatively few cases of congenital paediatric heart disease in Ireland could not justify the operation of two surgical centres on both sides of the border.
There is already significant cross-border co-operation on the delivery of children's cardiac care, with surgeons from Dublin currently travelling to Belfast to perform non-complex procedures.
Complex operations stopped in Belfast around two years ago, with many children currently having to travel to England for surgery.
The proposed plan envisages that in future all children on the island of Ireland should be able to have surgery in Dublin, without the need to travel across the Irish Sea.
It is envisaged that the new cross-border clinical network will take around 12 to 18 months to set up, with interim arrangements in place until then.
Working group report
The report from the working group, which was chaired by Dr John Mayer from the Boston Children's Hospital in the USA, was the fourth study on the issue to recommend a single surgical unit in Dublin.
Around 140 children a year from Northern Ireland require heart surgery. In the Republic of Ireland the number of cases is around 400 per annum.
Mr Varadkar said he supported the implementation of all the working group's recommendations as soon as possible, subject to the outcome of public consultation.
"The recommendations of the report provide a clear and objective mandate to develop an integrated networked service for the benefit of all children and young people with congenital heart disease and their families on the island of Ireland," he said.
Mr Varadkar paid tribute to the management team and clinicians in Our Lady's Children's Hospital who have regularly provided surgical and cardiology support to their counterparts in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
"I am sure that the close professional and collegial relationships developed between those involved in the care of these vulnerable patients will provide a stable basis for the development of an all-island networked service, as envisaged in the report," he said.
