Stephen Bolsin

Stephen Nicholas Cluley Bolsin (born 1952) is a British anaesthetist whose actions as a whistleblower exposed incompetent paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary leading to the implementation of clinical governance reforms in the United Kingdom.

Stephen Bolsin graduated with BSc Hons (Anatomy) London in 1974 and MB, BS London in 1977. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists London in 1982. Bolsin became a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, The Bristol Eye Hospital England in 1989. He was the first National Audit Co-ordinator Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland London England 1991 – 1996.

In 1989, as a new consultant anaesthetist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bolsin identified that too many babies were dying during heart surgery. He spent the next six years confirming the high mortality rates and attempting to improve the service. This led to a fall in mortality rates for children’s heart surgery in Bristol from 30% to less than 5%; it also, however, led to direct confrontation with paediatric cardiac surgeons whom the hospital refused to investigate. Bolsin eventually took his concerns to the media and became a whistleblower. Bolsin's actions led directly to a major government inquiry, the Kennedy Report which made wide-ranging recommendations about reform of clinical governance in UK hospitals.

From 1989 to 1995, Bolsin published numerous articles and chapters in textbooks relating to the provision of high quality cardiac services while he was a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He also acted as a Department of Health Committee member advising on the assessment of quality and performance in cardiac surgery in the UK from 1992 to 1995. Over the same period, Bolsin was a Department of Health Advisor on performance measurement and risk adjustment in cardiac surgery. The Department of Health Committee, supported by the then Chief Medical Officer Sir Kenneth Calman, was provided with £3 million to introduce audit of cardiac surgical activity in the NHS and was chaired by Professor Taylor.

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