Extract from the BMJ today - my asterisks

>From experience of trying to make the system work myself, I have a great
deal of sympathy with the five concerned. As suspected, the case turns out
to be slightly different to the way it was presented on TV!

BMJ...

The fallout from the Bristol heart surgery case, which ended last week with
findings of serious professional misconduct against three doctors, continued
this week when six consultants from Bristol Royal Infirmary hit back at
suggestions that "doctors at Bristol" were to blame for the tragedy.

The consultants' statement came in response to comments from the Department
of Health, the Royal College of Surgeons, and senior NHS local managers
blaming Bristol doctors for failure to act over high death rates in
paediatric cardiac surgery.

A former senior surgeon and medical director at Bristol, James Wisheart, was
struck off the medical register by the General Medical Council last week;
also struck off was Dr John Roylance, former chief executive of United
Bristol Healthcare Trust. A second surgeon, Janardan Dhasmana, was also
found guilty of serious professional misconduct but was allowed to remain on
the register subject to a three year ban on paediatric heart operations.

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The statement was signed by Gianni Angelini, professor of cardiac surgery,
who repeatedly tried to raise concerns over the operations, and five
colleagues: anaesthetists Andy Black, Sheila Willatts, and Ian Davies;
surgeon Alan Bryan; and radiologist Peter Wilde. It accused governmental and
professional regulatory bodies of refusing to take action and said it was
"disgraceful" that they were now sitting "in sanctimonious judgment" over
the failure of doctors in Bristol.
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The events that emerged over 65 days of evidence in the GMC's longest and
most complex inquiry are certain to change the face of medical practice in
Britain. The £2.2m ($3.5m) GMC inquiry focused on the deaths of 29 babies
and young children in two types of operation, but the forthcoming public
inquiry will have a much wider remit.



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