The hospital was criticised over adult heart patient death rates in 2007 Four children who died during heart surgery at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital were all operated on by the same surgeon, it has emerged.BBC Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh said the consultant, Caner Salih, was appointed late last year. He was previously based in Melbourne and is one of two doctors in Oxford who perform heart surgery on children. Paediatric heart surgery at the hospital has been suspended after the deaths within the past four months. A hospital spokeswoman said that on average each surgeon might operate on about five children a month. She said the four children who died were all born with serious heart problems and each case was complex. 'Right questions'The trust stressed that there was no suggestion at this stage that the surgeon involved had made errors. Twenty-six patients due to have surgery will be sent to 10 other units. Meanwhile, concerns were raised that the few surgeons who perform paediatric cardiac surgery were "spread too thin".[Read more...]