Anger over Alder Hey 'whitewash'

The organs of dead children were kept by the hospital

All but one of the doctors reported to the General Medical Council (GMC) following the organ scandal at Alder Hey Children's Hospital have been cleared, it is believed.

It has also been revealed that only one of the four managers suspended in the wake of the Redfern inquiry into the scandal is to face disciplinary proceedings.

Representatives of the parents have condemned the lack of action.

It is believed as many as 17 doctors were initially referred to the GMC by the chief medical officer Professor Liam Donaldson.

It looks as though nothing has changed and that they are trying to whitewash the issue

Ian Cohen, solicitor

The Redfern inquiry, published in January, said organs had been removed from thousands of dead children at the Liverpool hospital over seven years, without their parents' consent.

In some cases, it was many years after their child's death that parents learnt organs had been kept.

Some families have been forced to hold multiple funerals as lungs, brains, hearts and other organs were returned to them.

Ian Cohen, a solicitor acting for the parents' group Pity 2, said: "A lot of people are very, very angry.

"After the inquiry there was talk about the profession becoming more open and proposals to change the law.

'Managerial inadequacy'

"It looks as though nothing has changed and that they are trying to whitewash the issue.

"We are asking what has been done to those people implicated - and the answer is nothing."

He said he was told that three of the doctors referred to the GMC have since left the country.

Professor Dick van Velzen, head of foetal and infant pathology at Alder Hey between 1988 and 1995, was named by the Redfern report as being at the centre of the scandal.

In February, the GMC suspended him.

The inquiry found that "managerial inadequacy" had been a factor in the scandal.

At the time four NHS staff, including the chief executive of Alder Hey, Hilary Rowlands, were suspended.

November hearing

The report named a number of doctors but it is unclear who has been referred to the GMC.

A spokewoman for the GMC said she could not comment on the matter.

A statement from Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust, which runs Alder Hey, said: "In respect of the four managers who were suspended, the trust is only able to comment on the two managers employed by Alder Hey at the time of their suspension.

"A disciplinary hearing in relation to Jackie Waring (a laboratory administrator) took place on 6 September.

"The panel, chaired by a member of the trust board, heard evidence lasting more than three hours following which Mrs Waring was cleared of the charges against her.

"The disciplinary hearing in relation to the chief executive Hilary Rowland will take place during November."

It is understood the remaining two managers have also been cleared.