Hospital Boss Denies Creating Dodgy Dossier

The hospital accused of making unchecked allegations which led to the closure of a rival children's heart unit last year has denied creating a dodgy dossier.

Sir Leonard Fenwick, Chief Executive of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, told Sky News he stands by a catalogue of complaints from parents of 14 children treated at a Leeds heart unit that he sent to NHS England.

"It comes across that way but of course it's not a dodgy dossier," he said.

"It's based on evidence, well researched, I did it with clinicians and I stick by it."

His denial comes after an independent investigation into the temporary closure of the Leeds unit last March blamed the dossier from Newcastle and management and medics at both units.

The report's strongest criticism for the 11-day closure in March 2013 by NHS England over safety concerns is levelled at the Newcastle trust which claimed it was whistleblowing on failings in Leeds.

"Reporting the unchecked allegations of others is not whistleblowing, and Newcastle should have made the status of their concerns clearer when they reported them," it said.

The report blames heart specialists at both units for "disagreements and personality clashes" and says management at both centres could have been better.

"Managers at affected trusts... have a responsibility to ensure that strong, respectful relationships are maintained between staff at 'competing' trusts," it says.

The rivalry between the trusts followed a bitter row over a decision by NHS England to close the Leeds unit and retain the Newcastle service, which has since been placed under review.

The political nature of some complaints from parents in the Newcastle dossier were also criticised.

"Those receiving the concerns and acting on them should have distinguished between concerns to which parents wanted answers and those being communicated for political purposes," the report says.

NHS England said at the time that the closure was for a "constellation" of reasons including poor data submission and the absence of both senior heart surgeons, one of whom was on holiday, the other under internal investigation.

The report backs NHS England's stance, saying: "Leeds senior management at the time should have ensured that data (on heart surgery patients) was full, accurate and submitted on time."

The report, described as the final "overarching" review of events that led to the closure has been welcomed by NHS England, which commissioned it.

NHS England's deputy medical director, Dr Mike Bewick, said: “Patients should be reassured that this service has been rigorously scrutinised and has improved as a result.

"Patients and the public can have confidence that this is a well-run unit and is now in a position to go from strength to strength."

The closure came the month after the publication of the Francis report into failings at Mid Staffordshire which warned that the NHS must act on safety concerns.