THERE are many ramifications still to come after the landmark ruling by the General Medical Council against the two heart surgeons and the NHS trust chief executive at a Bristol hospital where, after operations, 29 infants died because they failed to pay sufficient regard to their safety.

A government inquiry must trawl through the whole tragic case yet again, the doctors may be struck off and compensation claims for millions of pounds will have to be heard.

Yet, one grim conclusion has already been reached in the case of the man whose courage uncovered the scandal of too many babies dying at the hands of the bungling surgeons.

Anaesthetist Stephen Bolsin was the "whistle blower" who spoke out.

He said he could not go on putting children to sleep knowing it was almost certain to be the last time their parents would see them alive.

But what was his reward?

Today, he works far away in Australia, having found his career blocked in Britain. In medicine, he was classed as a trouble-maker; his work dried up and he could not get another job anywhere.

Yet, is it enough that Dr Bolsin has been vindicated by this ruling?

We think not.

This ruling by the GMC has, at the end of the longest hearing in its history, shown that even powerful consultants can be called to account.

But what happened to Dr Bolsin is hardly encouragement for any other bungling consultants to be exposed by their concerned colleagues if they become lepers in the medical community.

It may be instinctive for members of the medical profession to rally to the defence of colleagues who face criticism - more so, perhaps, now that the tendency for aggrieved patients to sue seems to be following the American path - but it should never be a device for condoning unnecessary deaths.

Dr Bolsin's courage casts shame on this outlook.

But more must be done to dispel it and the fear of speaking up.

Both the NHS and the GMC should seek ways of providing cast-iron guarantees that the whistle blowers will not suffer.

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