The Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) was told to suspend its childrens congenital heart surgery department yesterday after an unannounced visit from a very high ranking NHS official and the presentation of some mortality data to the Care Quality Commission - [urlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21972187[/url


This would of course normally be a high profile story in its own right, but for what happened 24 hours earlier... [urlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21952379[/url when a Joint Committee of NHS Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) (who last year made the decision to close the LGI congenital heart surgery department in favour of expanding the services in Newcastle) was told by a High Court judge that their decision and process was "unfair and legally flawed".


This in itself was also a high profile story in its own right and it kicked off one hell of a bunfight in the media with the chair of the JCPCT panel Sir Neil McKay coming in for a real old kicking in the local media and from our local Leeds MPs, particularly as the High Court judge found absolutely in the hospitals favour and called McKays hugely expensive review and decision making "ill judged and failed to make all relevant information available to the consultants", in other words she suggested that the evidence had been rigged in favour of a predetermined outcome, local MP Greg Mulholland went further in suggesting that important statistics which supported the LGI unit had been withheld from the review committee.

McKay has given interviews in local media in which he still remains convinced that he is right and points out that the judgement has changed nothing but that they'll have to re-review the whole process again, it seem that he is in no mind to admit that he was wrong and that this time he'll just jump through the hoops and make the same decision again - he's been heavily criticised by local MPs Greg Mulholland, Fabian Hamilton and Stuart Andrew.


Throughout the review and decision making process Stuart Andrew led a cross-party campaign to save the LGI unit and stated today that they asked the question to the review committee several times whether or not the unit was "safe" and that they were told on each occasion that yes it was and there were no concerns over its safety, he has asked for an urgent meeting to discover the source of the data which has led to the sudden closure of the unit and asked why this data was not made available at the initial review or at the High court hearing.

Greg Mulholland on local radio today went further and has called the committee biased and having a lack of objectivity, said that the review committee was scandalous and "should consider its position" and said that the timing of the NHS flying visit by Sir Bruce Keogh (Medical director of the NHS) was cynically made at a time when parliament was closed for Easter and thus preventing MP's from questioning him and his review committee, he pulled no punches in an interview just a few minutes ago and its obvious that all of the local MPs regardless of party are chomping at the bit to have a go at Sire Bruce and Sir Neil


So folks, thats how politics works - if you take a "Sir" to court and gain a judgement to have his very long and very expensive review and closure policy overturned and called illegal, if you embarrass him in the media to the extent where he looks a buffoon, then expect him to call in his mates and produce previously withheld data to justify a closure anyway.

This one will run and run, pull up a chair and fetch the popcorn...

That's certainly what Dr Phil Hammond thinks has brought about this decision.

They could have timed it better to make it look less like someone was taking the ball home.

The whole thing stinks anyway.

Sir Bruce McKeogh has now been interviewed on local radio and stated that he had no choice but to order a suspension of duties after receiving data from "an agitated surgeon" on Wednesday night (after the court ruling), showing "clear blue sky between the mortality figures at Leeds and the other specialist units", he's asked for statisticians to gather and investigate more data.

Another report suggested that a statistical unit elsewhere in the country had gathered some data but had not published it as the gathering and analysis was experimental and not yet tested or approved, this could be the same data that the whistleblower is refering to.

Of course there is no indication of where the "agitated surgeon" is from but in other news it was known from the start that one of the consultants on the original JCPCT panel was a surgeon based at the Newcastle Freeman hospital which won the vote over Leeds as to which of the two would become the regional unit, no guesses as to which one he voted for.

It stinks doesn't it.
I think coincidence can happen but this doesn't smell like coincidence to me.

And now it appears that the data on which Keogh's original decision was made is "fundamentally flawed" and is missing "hundreds of cases" according to the LGI's own data on death rates. With these cases included, the LGI compares favourably to other units in the country and is by no stretch of the imagination "unsafe". The JCPCT has made its decision, and has made a complete hash of trying to fudge together some data to support it. In the process, Keogh has smeared the efficiency and technical competence of a unit full of hard working, dedicated medical and administrative staff by attempting to paint it as another Mid-Staffs in waiting. And yet, after his SAS-style knifing in the back of the Leeds unit and its staff, he had the bare faced cheek to give an interview to the Guardian about how he's sick of people having a pop at the NHS ( www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/ ... pen-season ). He's either incredibly poorly advised, or an idiot.

And now it appears that the data on which Keogh's original decision was made is "fundamentally flawed" and is missing "hundreds of cases" according to the LGI's own data on death rates. With these cases included, the LGI compares favourably to other units in the country and is by no stretch of the imagination "unsafe". The JCPCT has made its decision, and has made a complete hash of trying to fudge together some data to support it. In the process, Keogh has smeared the efficiency and technical competence of a unit full of hard working, dedicated medical and administrative staff by attempting to paint it as another Mid-Staffs in waiting. And yet, after his SAS-style knifing in the back of the Leeds unit and its staff, he had the bare faced cheek to give an interview to the Guardian about how he's sick of people having a pop at the NHS ( www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/ ... pen-season ). He's either incredibly poorly advised, or an idiot.

[url=http://gregmulholland.org/en/article/2013/676263/mulholland-demands-resignation-of-nhs-boss-after-surgery-at-leeds-children-s-heart-unit-suspended-in-suspicious-circumstancesAs you'd expect, Greg Mulholland MP has an opinion[/url

[urlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21981778[/url
As suspected the data given as evidence was incomplete, ignored lots of relevant data which didn't suit the agenda and was never intended for publication anyway, it being an experimental methodology that was neither approved nor regarded as anywhere near ready for public consumption - it was leaked by an anonymous "concerned" surgeon.

BBC Leeds now reporting that surgery at Leeds is to resume "with immediate effect" after a tremendous effort from the cross party committee of Leeds MPs of Stuart Andrew, Greg Mulholland and Fabian Hamilton each of whom were not best pleased to have been ignored by head of the NHS Bruce Keogh when he made his flying visit last Thursday to close the unit - his comments are awaited with anticipation.

Meanwhile its another victory for the internet and particularly Twitter which our MPs have been using to great effect all weekend drumming up public opinion,arranging petitions and digging for the evidence, one day all public figures will come to understand that you USED to be able to bluff and bluster your way through high office confident in the knowledge that you'd buried the evidence and no-one would dare to challenge you anyway, but these days the public always seem to be several steps ahead of you, and far better informed.

Will Sir Bruce do the honourable thing and fall on his scalpel?

[size=50(Not a chance IMHO)[/size

Would this be the same "concerned" surgeon from Newcastle Freeman who sat on the original JCPCT decision, despite the massive conflict of interest?

You mean the only serving surgeon on the committee currently employed at one of the hospitals under review ?

Well it could be that one but as the "agitated surgeon" is being kept anonymous we may never know, if it is him though then when the new review gets back under way (which it has to, but legally this time and at more public expense) and if he isn't back on the panel then that might be a clue, and if he is back on the panel then I expect Leeds' three MPs will be out for blood, they ain't very happy at the moment

I thought we were supposed to be encouraging whistleblowers. Erring on the side of caution. Or was that just last week's fad?

Closing down heart surgery on incorrect and misleading data, thus putting lives at risk, is not erring on the side of caution. Why not close down all hospitals in case someone dies?

If you set aside the underlying and more obvious feeling that this wasn't just ill timed but deliberate, and it may just have been ill timed, and then listen to Keogh's interview from Friday you see or hear a public servant who is scared to death of making an error of judgement, its his call and its his head on the block, someone has referred him to a set of data that appears to tell a story (but has subsequently been proved to be misleading) and now he alone is responsible for what happens if the data proves to be correct.

The "whistleblower" may have a vested interest or may have just uncovered the data by coincidence on the same day that they lost the confidence of a high court judge who declared their committee decision illegal, it could all be one big coincidence but that is the problem with whistleblowers, you never really know what their motivation is.

One of the things about Leeds is they are prepared to take on 'challenging' cases which have by their very nature high risk of failure. Other hospitals would not give the child the chance as it would be detrimental to their success rates. In this case LGI has been treated appallingly - it will now be very difficult for the NHS to close the unit - thankfully.

Those difficult cases also worked against them last Thursday when the unit was closed on a kneejerk as the consultants were accused of failing to pass on cases to other regional units in a "best care" scenario, probably because they already knew that the "best care" was right there in their own unit - it didn't stop a lack of referals appearing in the stats and being misinterpreted though.

[urlhttp://gregmulholland.org/en/article/2013/676788/reporting-on-the-leeds-children-s-heart-unit[/url

And now more dithering...

Its an open email to subscribers so I'm sure he won't mind sharing it here ...

([url=http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/sbksr/petition can be signed here[/url)



Last week on Thursday the Safe and Sustainable Review’s decision to close Leeds Children’s Heart Unit was ruled unlawful by the High Court. Less than 24 hours after the High Court ruled that the Leeds Children’s Heart Surgery Unit should be kept open, the Clinical Director of NHS England turned up in Leeds and demanded that the unit be closed immediately citing concerns based on unpublished figures.

I was stunned and appalled by the extraordinary intervention by the medical director of the NHS, Sir Bruce Keogh and the Care Quality Commission to force suspension of children's heart surgery in Leeds just a day after the courts confirmed the decision of the proposed closure was deemed as illegal. This smacks of the extraordinary arrogance displayed throughout this process by an unelected committee who have consistently failed to justify their decision making, have refused to share information with those who have the duty to hold them to account and have sought to manipulate the facts to suit their preferences and bias.

I have called for Sir Bruce Keogh to resign his position in the NHS and for children’s heart surgery to be continued as soon as possible at LGI as the decision to close the unit was based on data that was inaccurate and incomplete. I have also called on the Secretary of State to intervene in this matter.

It was reported late last night that the unit was to be opened again but then NHS England seemed to u-turn again and announced that this was not the case. At the moment the Children’s Heart Surgery Unit at LGI remains closed but, along with colleagues from Leeds City Council and other Yorkshire MPs, we are calling for it to be reopened as soon as possible.

You can sign the petition calling for Sir Bruce Keogh to be sacked here.


Best Wishes,


Greg Mulholland MP

Seems like the Guardian has concerns about mortality rates as well www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/ ... e-jeopardy not looking good for Leeds. Have heart surgery and end up with brain damage

Seems like the Guardian has concerns about mortality rates as well www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/ ... e-jeopardy not looking good for Leeds. Have heart surgery and end up with brain damage

Having had complicated heart surgery at LGI myself I can only say in my experience the treatment I received was exemplary and no matter how much money I had spent I could not have received a better outcome.

Can't you ask them to put it back in?

They could do it at the same time as they implant something that functions correctly inside your skull?

Seems it's definitely official now...
[urlhttp://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-04-05/leeds-childrens-heart-operations-to-restart/[/url

The next phase will be getting Keogh and McKay in front of a select committee or even at a meeting of the three party MP's who have fought to have the "evidence" exposed this last week, oh how I hope that meeting happens and how I hope its televised, they are still fuming.

BTW - that building, the facade of the LGI in the ITN report, designed 150 or so years ago on principles laid down by Florence Nightingale that was

Quote ="JerryChicken" ... BTW - that building, the facade of the LGI in the ITN report, designed 150 or so years ago on principles laid down by Florence Nightingale that was '" ... and the architect was George Gilbert Scott, famed for the hotel at St Pancras, the Albert memorial and goodness knows how many gothic revival churches. openplaques.org/plaques/5008

Quote ="JerryChicken" ... BTW - that building, the facade of the LGI in the ITN report, designed 150 or so years ago on principles laid down by Florence Nightingale that was '" ... and the architect was George Gilbert Scott, famed for the hotel at St Pancras, the Albert memorial and goodness knows how many gothic revival churches. openplaques.org/plaques/5008

Two tweets just in from @GregMulholland1





Parliament back in business next week and Leeds MPs lining up an early Commons question as to where the "evidence" came from and why it had never been presented during the one year long consultation process, Tory MP Stuart Andrew at the weekend was demanding to know why Bruce Keogh had withheld the "evidence" from the High Court during their review and at the presentation of its decision just 24 hours before he closed the unit.

Last tweet from @GregMullholland1