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'Surgeons hindered baby deaths investigations'
 Surgeon James Wisheart was 'red faced and angry' |
Bristol whistleblower Dr Stephen Bolsin told a public inquiry how he was labelled a "troublemaker" when he tried to question death rates following child heart surgery.
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Mr Wisheart, he said, would become "red faced and angry" if the subject was broached, and Mr Dhasmana would become "defensive".
 I think that data did exist within the unit but it was not being shared  |
| Dr Stephen Bolsin |
He said he had pursued the matter through the normal channels until 1992 - four years after he joined the unit.
 Dr Stephen Bolsin: 'seen as a troublemaker' |
He said: "I think that data did exist within the unit but it was not being shared, particularly with someone like me who was seen as a troublemaker and seen as someone rocking the boat.
"That data would not be shared with me and I wanted the data to be shared with all of us."
Brian Langstaff QC, senior counsel for the inquiry, pointed out that Mr Wisheart had cooperated with a similar audit of adult heart operations, but Dr Bolsin insisted that infant mortality information was a far more sensitive issue.
Dr Bolsin's secret audit was eventually made public and prompted a massive investigation into death rates.
The multi-million pound investigation is investigating nearly 1,900 cases of children who had surgery at Bristol between 1984 and 1995.
In a General Medical Council disciplinary case preceding the inquiry, Mr Wisheart and a hospital manager Dr John Roylance were both struck off, while Mr Dhasmana was banned from operating on children.
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 | 22 Nov 99 | Health |
| Money came first, baby inquiry told |
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| 22 Nov 99 | Health |
| Bolsin: the Bristol whistleblower |
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| 23 Nov 99 | Health |
| Brain death 'not spotted for days' |
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| Bristol Inquiry |
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