Delays in deciding medic's future

Dr Raj Mattu was suspended in February 2002

Two years after a heart specialist was suspended from a hospital, an MP claims the trust is still causing unnecessary delays in resolving the case.

Dr Raj Mattu was suspended from Walsgrave Hospital amid allegations of bullying a junior colleague.

Supporters say he was victimised after complaining about hospital practices.

Coventry North West MP Geoffrey Robinson says the trust is still dragging its feet over who sits on the panel that will decide Dr Mattu's fate.

Campaign launched

"In the last two months the trust has rejected the two people put forward by the chairman of the staff committee, two doctors, and one of the reasons given for rejecting one of the doctors was that he was a surgeon and not a cardiologist," he said.

"For the life of me I can't understand why a surgeon should be any less capable of taking a decision about harassment and bullying than a non surgeon."

Former patients and members of the local Sikh community formed the Raj Mattu Reinstatement Committee to campaign on his behalf after his suspension in February 2002.

They believe he was singled out because of his outspoken views over patient care.

He criticised the trust after it came under fire last year from the Commission for Health Improvement, which found "serious" areas of concern with patient care at the hospital.