A HEART patient has come to the defence of a surgeon named as having death rates above the national average.

Bob Young said consultant Jonathan Hyde, who works at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, had saved his life and was a “gentleman”.

Mr Young, 57, had a major heart attack in July 2013 and was taken to the specialist cardiac unit at the Royal Sussex.

He stayed in hospital for six days and saw Mr Hyde privately after he was discharged.

Mr Young, from Brighton, went on to have a triple-heart bypass the following September.

Mr Young, who up until his illness ran the As You Like It Café in Brighton with his partner Sarah Hills, said he had nothing but praise for Mr Hyde.

He said: “He explained everything in great detail and gave me all the information I needed about mortality rates so I could make the choice.

“He did a great job – he basically saved my life.

“When I saw him being singled out like that it really upset me. He did not deserve that.

“All surgery is a risk and there are going to be times when things do not work in spite of all the efforts.

“Surgeons are only human – they are not God. It would be a real pity if people just decide they don’t want him as a surgeon based on these figures.

“He did an amazing job.”

Mr Hyde was one of only three surgeons in the country revealed as being outside the “expected range” of performance in a new national NHS transparency drive, which allows the public to compare the performance of 5,000 surgeons.

Mr Hyde performed 506 operations between April 2010 and March 2013 and had a 6.63% mortality rate.

A review of Mr Hyde’s work was carried out in September 2013 and with support from the Royal College of Surgeons, his death rate has improved significantly to 1.8%.