THE man who raised concerns about mortality figures that led to the suspension of children's heart surgery in Leeds, has resigned - it has been confirmed.
A spokesman from the National Institutes For Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (NICOR), said that Sir Roger Boyle, who was co-director of the institute, has handed in his resignation but they will be releasing no further statement.
The news follows Sir Roger's recent outburst, even after surgery had resumed again in Leeds, that stated he would not want his daughter treated at the hospital.
His resignation also comes in the wake of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's comments that Sir Roger would no longer be playing a part in the wider review into child heart surgery in England and Wales.
Meanwhile NHS England have revealed they are appealing against the High Court ruling quashing the Safe & Sustainable review – the process that originally resulted in the decision to close Leeds children's heart unit.
The review, launched in 2008, was set up to transform children's heart services to provide better care to patients and improve outcomes.
A spokesman for NHS England, said: "We now have an opportunity to take stock and assess the best way of achieving our objective in the fastest possible time.
"To do this, we need to take account of all the available information, including the recent High Court ruling on March 27, and the report on the issues that is due to be published by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.
"We have been advised that there are good grounds for appeal and these points are set out in an application that has been submitted to the Court of Appeal."
Campaigners trying to save the Leeds unit from closure have fought long and hard but are now calling on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to not waste time and NHS money and withdraw the appeal.
Sharon Cheng of Save Our Surgery, said: "NHS England's move to try and appeal against the outcome of the judicial review is a disgraceful waste of time and taxpayer's money.
"The decision to appeal only underlines, once again, NHS England's willingness to spend money on lawyers' fees that should be used for patient care.
"Pursuing this appeal serves no benefit to patients.
" Instead it is about protecting reputations and trying to salvage what is a flawed and thoroughly discredited process.
"We secured a strong and conclusive judgment in the High Court and the final decision regarding the future of children's heart surgery services should now lie with the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) and the Health Secretary.
"This is a cynical move that only delays things further and creates more uncertainty for patients and their families."
"At this point, enough is enough. The Health Secretary can no longer hide behind the case that it is the NHS's responsibility to make decisions on the future of patient services."
Results of the IRP are expected to be published on Tuesday, April 30.
