Cardiac surgeon referred to GMC did nothing wrong, admits NHS trust

Posed by models. Getty/Akarawut Lohacharoenvanich

A hospital trust has admitted that a cardiac surgeon it referred to the GMC following an independent mortality review (IMR), did nothing wrong.

The IMR of cardiac surgery at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was commissioned by NHS Improvement in November 2018.

Following that review, Professor Marjan Jahangiri was referred to the GMC in 2020. Around the same time a senior coroner considered 21 of Professor Jahangiri’s cases in connection with the IMR.

A joint statement by the Trust and Dr Richard Jennings, group chief medical officer, acknowledges that the GMC closed its investigation having concluded they had “not seen anything that could potentially call Professor Jahangiri’s fitness to practice into question” and that they “were unable to identify any issues that would need us to open a GMC investigation”.

It also recognised that the senior coroner identified no failings of care relating to Professor Jahangiri’s patients, and in fact praised the care given by her.

It added: “The Trust acknowledges the important contribution Professor Jahangiri has made to cardiac surgery at St George’s Hospital. She has helped to build the cardiac unit and has been instrumental in training other cardiac surgeons.

“The Trust and Dr Jennings acknowledge the distress caused to Professor Jahangiri in connection with these matters… [and] recognises how stressful and difficult these events have been.

“The Trust is committed to supporting our staff as much as possible in difficult situations such as these, and will apply any learning to support all its staff."

It said it looks forward to having a constructive working relationship with Professor Jahangiri.