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Coventry Evening Telegraph
Two Coventry Labour MPs were due to question a health minister today on the suspension of a city doctor.
Jim Cunningham and Geoffrey Robinson were expecting to ask health minister Melanie Johnson to intervene in the case of Dr Raj Mattu during a half hour adjournment debate.
Dr Mattu, a cardiologist, has not worked since February last year when he was suspended from Walsgrave Hospital amid allegations of bullying a junior colleague.
But his supporters have always suspected the real reason for his suspension was his public condemnation of overcrowding on wards, which he claimed contributed to the deaths of two patients.
It involved placing five patients in bays designed only for four, and meant the extra patient was more difficult to reach in an emergency situation and had limited access to gasses and equipment.
A Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) review branded the practice as dangerous.
Mr Cunningham said: "We will be going through some of the problems that have affected the hospital.
"This is the third suspension in as many years. We will be saying 'Why not wipe the slate clean?' There is new management at the hospital and progress is being made.
"We accept the hospital started to put matters right after the CHI visit. We want to improve relations with the hospital trust so why not reinstate this individual who was brought in to further develop heart care services?"
He said they would be calling for the minister to take action and bring the matter to some kind of conclusion, either through reinstatement or an inquiry."
