Fatality alerts in ‘toxic’ unit

AFTER St George’s received two alerts of high death rates of cardiac patients, the hospital in Tooting, south London, asked Professor Mike Bewick to investigate.

The patient-safety expert said the ‘toxic’ unit was split in two camps and staff relationships were dysfunctional.

Professor Jahangiri was not named in his report, although other surgeons were.

Another probe is now determining whether the Trust can retain confidence in the surgeons, who were warned that any efforts to hinder it could be construed as gross misconduct.

This led to Professor Jahangiri’s suspension after she allegedly used her secretary to attempt to contact a potential witness.