Heart surgeon at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital faces competency hearing
r Pugsley was a consultant at the Middlesex Hospital and the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, before moving to Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust in 2002 as lead cardiothoracic surgeon to set up the new Heart and Lung Centre at New Cross Hospital.
An inquest in Wolverhampton in 2006 heard Mr Pugsley performed an operation to replace a heart valve on Mrs Lees, of Buttermere Court, Perton, near Wolverhampton, who died after blood leaked from a suture into the sac around her heart.
Mr Pugsley told the inquest that Mrs Lees’ operation was “entirely uneventful”.
The surgeon, in his 50s, also operated on Peter Stanford in 2001, an apparently healthy man who died two days after a triple heart bypass operation in Brighton.
The 66-year-old patient was chatty and comfortable at Royal Sussex Country Hospital before suddenly collapsing and dying.
A post-mortem showed Mr Stanford had a small perforation in a vein near the site of the bypass but there was no clear evidence to show how it happened and a verdict of death by misadventure was recorded.
Chris Watkins, spokesperson for The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Following four unexpected outcomes in 2005, Mr Pugsley ceased to carry out any cardiac surgery but has continued his thoracic surgery practice.
“At no time did Mr Pugsley’s mortality figures fall below the level accepted by the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons and the Royal College of Surgeons.
“The Heart and Lung Centre in Wolverhampton has become an outstanding centre for cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology.
It is the most productive cardiac centre in the West Midlands with excellent outcomes for patients.
“This is a result of a superb multi-disciplinary effort by all the staff within the unit, assembled and led initially by Mr Pugsley.
“Mr Pugsley is an employee and the Trust would obviously take any finding from any GMC hearing seriously and would respond accordingly to any implications.”
