Bristol heart doctors to testify

THREE DOCTORS shamed in the Bristol heart babies scandal will give evidence to the pounds 10m public inquiry opening shortly.

The surgeons James Wisheart and Janardan Dhasmana and Dr John Roylance, former chief executive of the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust, were found guilty of serious professional misconduct by a General Medical Council inquiry. It investigated the higher-than-average death toll of babies having complex heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

All three have been asked to give written witness statements to the inquiry ordered by Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary, and due to open with public hearings in Bristol on 16 March. The four-strong panel will be chaired by Professor Ian Kennedy, a medical legal expert. Dr Steve Bolsin, an anaesthetist in the surgical team, whose concerns led to the GMC inquiry, will also appear.

The inquiry will hold public hearings in Bristol before moving to London. The hearings are expected to last into the summer of 2000.

Parents who lost children having heart surgery at the hospital in the 11 years to 1995 will be the first witnesses. The inquiry chairman has warned they face a "gruelling" time as they recount their experiences.

The inquiry will also investigate the retention of hearts and other organs - without parental knowledge or consent - of babies who died with complex heart conditions.

About 2,000 operations are being examined.

The GMC inquiry ordered that Mr Wisheart and Dr Roylance be struck off, and banned Mr Dhasmana from operating on children for three years, although he was allowed to continue with adult cases.

It investigated 53 operations done by the two surgeons. Twenty-nine patients died and four were left with severe brain injuries.

Nearly 600,000 pages of evidence has been scanned into computers for the inquiry.