Southampton General is looking at axing the cardiac liaison team - experienced nurses who act as contacts for families of children with heart conditions.

The families say the nurses have an essential level of knowledge about their children's cases that would be lost, putting them at risk.

The hospital said it would not do anything to endanger patients' safety.

There is a risk that all the good work that has gone into providing such a safe and effective clinical service will be undermined by this strategy Peter Weissberg British Heart Foundation

Rhiannon Silk, whose fifteen-month-old son Tom has had four open-heart operations in just over a year, said the nurses provided an invaluable service.

"They know everything about the child and their past history," she said.

But a spokesman for the hospital said: "These proposals have been drawn up by the cardiac unit's own management. We would do nothing to jeopardise patients' safety."

Four of the six-strong team at the Wessex Cardiac Unit are funded by the hospital, while the other two are funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The foundation said that they will withdraw funding if the other four posts are cut.

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the BHF, said: "The BHF applauds the high quality of cardiac surgery reported from the Wessex Cardiac Unit at Southampton General Hospital.

"However, the BHF is very concerned that the Wessex Cardiac Unit will struggle to maintain such high standards because it is currently under great pressure to reduce running costs.

"There is a risk that all the good work that has gone into providing such a safe and effective clinical service will be undermined by this strategy."

A final decision on the service is set to be made on 15 August.