Three doctors at the centre of Britain's largest medical disciplinary inquiry into the deaths of 29 children have had the cases against them proven by the General Medical Council, it was announced yesterday. All three face the possibility of being found guilty of serious professional misconduct
The inquiry found that Mr James Wiseheart (59), and Mr Janardan Dhasmana (58), both consultant heart surgeons at Bristol Royal Infirmary continued to perform heart surgery on children and babies despite the low success rate of the operations and that Dr John Roylance, a former chief executive of the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust, had failed to prevent them despite being aware of the misgivings of their colleagues. The NHS Trust is also facing the possibility of claims for compensation from each of the families involved for amounts between £10,000 and £20,000.
The Bristol Heart Children Action Group, which represents former child cardiac patients at the Bristol Royal Infirmary called on the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and the Health Secretary, Mr Frank Dobson, to order a public inquiry into the cases of children and babies who died at the hospital. The group said a public inquiry was the only means available to establish the truth behind the high mortality rates of child cardiac patients at the hospital.
The GMC ruled that the allegations against Mr Wiseheart, who is now retired, and Mr Dhasmana, which claimed that they continued operating on children despite their poor success rate was proven. The inquiry, which was headed by the GMC president, Sir Donald Irvine, heard that Mr Wiseheart carried out 15 "hole-in-the-heart" operations on children between 1990 and 1994, and that nine of the children died. Nearly two in three of Mr Wiseheart's child heart patients died compared with a national average of one in seven.
The GMC said that in May 1993, when Mr Wiseheart had performed 12 operations and half his patients had already died, he should have been aware that the mortality rate was higher than normal. However, the inquiry was told that Mr Wiseheart performed another three operations and all three children died. The GMC ruled that Mr Wiseheart had gone ahead with two operations knowing his colleagues had voiced their concerns about the mortality rate on four separate occasions.
The case against Mr Dhasmana was similarly depressing. He performed 38 operations on children to correct tangled arteries in the heart between February 1988 and January 1995 but 20 of his patients died. The inquiry heard that children and babies who underwent surgery carried out by Mr Dhasmana had a two in three chance of dying compared to a national average of one in 10. The inquiry also accepted that Dr Roylance had failed to stop the two surgeons from continuing with the operations despite the fact that their colleagues had made clear they were concerned about the high number of babies and children that had died.
After the ruling the three doctors left the inquiry without making any comment. However, Mrs Helen Rickard, whose 11-monthold daughter, Samantha, died after a heart operation carried out by Mr Wiseheart, banged on the doctors' car window and shouted "bastard".
Mrs Rickard, whose husband, Andy, committed suicide two years after their daughter's death, said she did not believe the GMC inquiry had heard all the facts about the operations carried out by the two doctors. "The scope of the GMC inquiry was not wide enough. There is still a lot more to be investigated in this case. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are about 91 other people who have had children involved in these operations."