Scandal surgeon receives 'merit' cash

James Wisheart was struck off

A doctor at the centre of the Bristol heart baby scandal is still receiving merit payments worth £20,000 a year to reflect his contribution to the NHS.

Former Health Secretary Frank Dobson pledged three years ago to end payments to James Wisheart, who was struck off in 1998.

But the Department of Health has said that it had proved legally impossible to do so.

Another of the doctors criticised by the inquiry into the high infant mortality rate has said his conscience is clear.

Dr Norman Halliday, responsible for funding cardiac services at the hospital in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said he had found no evidence of any wrongdoing at the time.

Struck off

Mr Wisheart has received some £240,000 from merit payments since concerns over his work were first raised, a report in the Sunday Times newspaper says.

Dr Wisheart was first awarded the cash by a committee of his colleagues in 1994, two years after the Royal College of Surgeons concluded that death rates among his patients were double the national average.

In those circumstances it is not unexpected that to find that the mortality rate is high

Dr Norman Halliday

He was harshly criticised in a report of the Kennedy inquiry into the Bristol heart unit published this month.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We have looked at this and after looking at the situation fully and looking at all aspects we weren't actually able to take away Dr Wisheart's merit awards retrospectively.

"It would have required primary legislation to change the pensions law.

"The system has now been changed so that if award-holding doctors are not maintaining high standards of conduct, awards can be removed."

'Not unexpected'

The long-awaited report concluded that between 30 and 35 children who underwent heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary between 1991 and 1995 died unnecessarily as a result of sub-standard care.

The official investigation found that Dr Halliday had failed to respond adequately to concerns raised.

But the doctor told the BBC: "You have got to recognise that many of the operations that were being performed in many of the units had only been used for a few years.

"In those circumstances it is not unexpected that to find that the mortality rate is high.

"It is always easy with hindsight to say that you could in fact have done more. At the time there was no evidence on which the department could work."

Health Secretary Alan Milburn has promised action to ensure no parents have to go through such pain ever again.