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Heart row doctor who wouldn't let his daughter be treated at Leeds Infirmary is urged to quit as families call for new probe at the hospital

One of the country’s most senior doctors who raised the alarm over high death rates at a children’s cardiac unit is ‘considering his position’ after being asked to resign by the NHS medical director.
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh has called for Prof Sir Roger Boyle,  the former heart tsar, to step  down over his claims that he  would still not want his daughter  to receive treatment at Leeds General Infirmary – even though  it has reopened following a Government review.
The call for his resignation came despite Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisting that a new ‘friends and family test’ is a crucial way to determine whether services are safe to use.
Prof Boyle, director of the National Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research (NICOR), which oversees NHS mortality data, argued on Friday that the death rates at Leeds were still ‘on the edge of acceptability’ and that he would not send his children there.
‘I would go somewhere else,’ Prof Boyle said. ‘I would go to Newcastle.’ Prof Keogh, who has insisted the unit is safe, described the comments as ‘not very helpful’ and was ‘very puzzled’ about why they had been made.
Asked if Prof Boyle should step down, he replied: ‘I think the answer to that is yes.’
Prof Boyle said he was now ‘considering his position’ following the criticism, but he defended his comments over the Leeds unit.
He said: ‘This is not just about data, where they are close to the levels which would prompt an alert, but about a whole range of things – concerns expressed by other surgeons about the way the unit operates, parents not being able to send their children elsewhere, women being cajoled into having abortions because  their children have a diagnosis  of congenital heart disease.
Children's heart surgery at the hospital was suspended at the end of last month after data showed the unit had a death rate double that of other centres. It re-opened again on Wednesday
Children's heart surgery at the hospital was suspended at the end of last month after data showed the unit had a death rate double that of other centres. It re-opened again on Wednesday
‘I am considering my position, but actually it really worries me that yet again we are seeing that when a person raises concerns they end up being vilified, just as Steve Bolsin [the anaesthetist who blew the whistle on the Bristol baby deaths scandal, in which more than 30 babies died] was.’

The latest war of words comes  as one mother demanded a full investigation into her daughter’s death at the Leeds unit just days before all surgery was suspended there last month.

Siobhan Casey, 25, lost her four-year-old daughter Mylee Weetman following an operation on March 15 to remove a build-up of muscle on her heart. The little girl, who had a congenital heart condition, died on March 21.
Siobhan, who also has a two-year-old daughter, Mia, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I have to know what happened – I think any parent would want that. The coroner couldn’t find anything that would naturally cause her death so her organs have been sent to London specialists. I’ve sent a list of 27 questions to Leeds and just want some answers.’

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘We extend our deepest sympathy to Mylee’s family and have been speaking to her mother about the family’s concerns and have arranged a meeting with her next week to discuss these further.’

Professore Boyle's comments will alarm parents and enrage supporters of the unit at Leeds General Infirmary. They want him to be sacked, accusing him of  ‘conducting a cynical vendetta’.
Paediatric heart surgery at Leeds  was suspended at the end of last month after data leaked by Sir Roger appeared to show death rates running at twice the national average.
Surgeons at other units also raised concerns and parents told of children who were lucky to be alive.
But others claimed the closure was politically motivated as it came just 24 hours after the High Court quashed plans to close the centre as part of measures to streamline  children’s heart services.
The hospital insisted the data was incomplete and that full figures would confirm the unit to be safe.
Surgery resumed earlier this week and NHS England said it was satisfied that immediate safety concerns had been dealt with.

However, Sir Roger’s comments on Radio 4’s The Report programme will reignite the controversy
He insisted that, despite safety assurances, a comprehensive analysis of the data showed the unit should remain under supervision.
‘We find they’re just on the edge of what we call an alert.
‘In other words, showing that they were right on the edge of acceptability,’ he said.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said that the quality of its  service had been independently  verified during a rapid review.
A spokesman added: ‘This was publicly reconfirmed at a meeting of councillors in Leeds on Wednesday when the deputy medical director of NHS England reaffirmed that all child heart surgery units in England, including Leeds, are safe to undertake surgery.’
The Save Our Surgery campaign group said Sir Roger’s involvement in deciding which child heart units should close means he is far from impartial.
His comments, added spokesman Sharon Cheng, were ‘extremely unhelpful and undermine the progress made over the last few days to begin to rebuild heart patients’ families’ trust and confidence’.
Greg Mulholland, Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, called for Sir Roger to be sacked.
He said the remarks had caused huge and unnecessary distress to families as well as slurring the  reputation of those working at the unit.

NHS medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh, took the decision to suspend treatment at the unit but said he now ‘disagreed’ with Sir Roger.
‘Having reviewed the unit, having reviewed the data, the performance in Leeds is in keeping with good national standards and I would be very happy to have my child operated upon in Leeds,’ said Sir Bruce.

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