THE mother of a Newport victim of the Bristol Royal Infirmary child heart scandal has described as "a betrayal" the lifting of an operating ban on disgraced surgeon Janardan Dhasmana.
Anne Waite, whose daughter, Caroline, died after heart surgery by Mr Dhasmana 16 years ago, is disgusted the General Medical Council cleared him to operate on children again. The ban was imposed at a GMC hearing in 1998, after which Mrs Waite's husband, Laurence, punched Mr Dhasmana. Today she said she felt like punching the surgeon, too.
"I didn't know he was up before the GMC again. I think I would have taken over where Laurence left off," said Mrs Waite, of Barthropp Street, Newport.
"It's disgusting. Why did they not strike him off? The one thing they could have done to hit him hard for what he did, they did not do."
Mr Dhasmana was banned from operating on children for three years. More than 30 children died following operations at the BRI in the 1980s and early 1990s. Fellow surgeon James Wisheart and NHS trust boss Dr John Roylance were struck off.
Last year Mr Dhasmana was cleared to perform heart surgery on adults through supervised retraining, provided he did not operate on children.
Yesterday the GMC ruled he could begin unsupervised heart surgery again after he undertook never to perform heart operations on children, a vow he first made last year. But the official ruling forbidding him from operating on children was lifted.
A GMC spokeswoman said Mr Dhasmana had not carried out child heart surgery for more than six years and could not return to it, even if he wanted to, because of the time that had elapsed.
"It's a betrayal of Caroline and the others. "It's an insult," said a furious Mrs Waite. Two-year-old Caroline died in April 1986, after an operation by Mr Dhasmana to mend a hole in her heart.
Mrs Waite told the BRI public inquiry Mr Dhasmana told them it would be fairly straightforward, with a 95 per cent chance of success. After she died, he told them he did all he could, but it had been more complicated than had been thought.
Mrs Waite had doubts, but it was the mid-1990s before evidence began to emerge of children dying needlessly in Bristol.
Last year the public inquiry report made 198 recommendations aimed at preventing such a tragedy happening again.
Mr Dhasmana was said to be relieved by the committee's decision. "He wishes to express once again his deepest sympathy for the families who have lost a child," said his lawyer.
*PICTURED: Laurence and Anne Waite.
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