Prime Minister: “King’s is fantastic”

16 September 2024 - Prime Minister Keir Starmer described King’s as “fantastic” and a “good example of collaboration” after meeting a nine-year-old boy from Dublin who was treated for a rare illness at King's College Hospital.

Freddie Munnelly had biliary atresia when he was a baby and received treatment at King’s.

The UK has a longstanding relationship with the Republic of Ireland to provide care to children with liver conditions.

Biliary atresia is a disease of the bile ducts which affects newborn babies. The condition occurs when the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder do not develop as expected and are blocked.

Symptoms include jaundice, and it can cause serious liver damage. It is a rare condition and is managed in only three centres in the UK, of which King’s is the largest, seeing between 20 to 30 newly diagnosed babies each year.

A diagnosis is made following blood tests and imaging. In most cases, surgery is performed to restore bile flow (the Kasai operation). Following surgery, in most cases bile flow is restored, and jaundice reduced. Patients can then be managed with outpatient follow-up, although some patients may need further inpatient care and possibly a liver transplant.

Freddie’s mother, Karen, said they had around nine visits over two years from when Freddie was just six weeks old.

“It’s an amazing hospital,” she said. “We’re still in contact with some of the team.”

Sir Keir responded, “King’s is fantastic. We were saying, what a good example of collaboration.”

Freddie’s father, Alan, added, “And he’s doing so well now,” to which Ms Munnelly responded, “Yes, he is.

King’s is one of the world’s leading centres for the care of infants and children born with biliary atresia. The hospital has pioneered a number of new treatments and techniques that have been used in other centres worldwide.

It is also a world-leading research centre for biliary atresia, with over 100 scientific articles and publications on the subject, and has led a number of important clinical trials.

Professor Anil Dhawan, Director of the Paediatric Liver, commented, “King’s paediatric liver service has a long history of working with patients from our neighbours in Ireland. Clinical teams in the UK and Ireland provide shared care after patients like Freddie have undergone complex liver surgeries.”