Surgeon sacked after his patient died during the UK’s first robotic heart op is working at another hospital

A SURGEON sacked after his patient died during the UK’s first robotic heart op is working at another hospital, an inquest heard yesterday.

Sukumaran Nair admitted he was “running before he could walk” in using the Da Vinci machine as he hadn’t had enough training.

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Retired music teacher Stephen Pettitt, 69, had a 99 per cent chance of surviving the routine surgery.

But the robot controlled by Nair stitched his heart incorrectly and use was stopped when its camera was “blinded by blood”.

Nair told the inquest: “I should have gained more experience.”

Stephen, a dad of three, suffered organ failure and died eight days later at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle. Nair is now working in Scotland but not in robotic surgery.

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Coroner Karen Dilks recorded a narrative verdict, citing “complications” in surgery. The hospital halted use of robots for heart ops after the death in 2015.

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