Children's heart surgery will remain suspended at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital until at least August while baby deaths are investigated.

The independent review into paediatric cardiac surgery at the JR, following the deaths of four children who underwent surgery, is not expected to be completed until the end of July, it was announced yesterday.

All four children were operated on by the same surgeon, Caner Salih, who was appointed consultant at the hospital 15 months ago.

Mr Salih had already resigned to move to Guy’s and St Thomas Foundation Trust in London when the JR issue was made public.

The ORH Trust had two surgeons providing paediatric cardiac surgery — Prof Stephen Westaby and Mr Salih.

The independent review will examine not only surgical procedures but “all aspects of patient care in relation to these children”.

The review team will be chaired by Dr Bill Kirkup, the former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England. It will be made up of clinicians and specialists drawn nationally, including a representative from the Care Quality Commission.

The report and recommendations are expected to be presented to the boards of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the JR, and the South Central Strategic Health Authority, and to families of the deceased children, on July 29.

The review, led by the South Central Strategic Health Authority, will cover the paediatric cardiac surgical services in Oxford from January 2009 until the service was suspended at the end of last month.

Aida Lo’s 23-day-old daughter Nathalie was one of the four babies who died at the hospital.

Mrs Lo, 29, of Balfour Road, Oxford, said: “I want answers from the John Radcliffe. They have told us nothing about why our daughter died.”

The JR refused to be drawn on the cause of the four deaths, but managers say all four infants were “very sick” before their operations.

A spokesman for the ORH Trust said children awaiting urgent cardiac surgery had been placed with other hospitals.

Other cardiac services for children will continue as normal.

Oxford is one of the smallest of 11 specialist paediatric cardiac surgery centres in the UK. With a national review under way to investigate the idea of creating fewer but larger centres, there is speculation that the Oxford unit may eventually merge with a larger centre.