The top doctor who leaked data about death rates at Leeds children’s heart unit was stripped of his role in deciding its future today.

The Health Secretary acted amid growing anger after Professor Sir Roger Boyle said he would not allow his own daughter to be operated on at the under-threat unit.

Jeremy Hunt defended the controversial decision to suspend surgery for 11 days after the data – later found to be incomplete – suggested worryingly-high death rates.

But he said Sir Roger’s subsequent comments meant it was wrong for him to play any future role in the Safe and Sustainable Review to decide which, if any, heart units should be axed.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Hunt told MPs that Sir Roger “did the right thing” in informing Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s medical director, about his concerns.

But he said: “It is the view of Sir Bruce, with which I fully concur, his comments to the media on April 11 could be seen as pre-judging any future conclusions made by that review.

“So it is right that Sir Roger plays no further role in its deliberations.”

The announcement pleased MPs who, led by Pudsey’s Stuart Andrew, had tabled an urgent question to bring the Health Secretary to the Commons.

However, Mr Hunt refused to give ground on the original decision to suspend surgery, saying: “Was the right decision made? The answer is categorically yes.

“If there is evidence patient safety is at risk, it is absolutely right the NHS acts quickly and decisively to prevent harm to patients.”

The Health Secretary also criticised Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for “not supplying data properly, in the way they needed to” – contributing to the suspension.

But Mr Andrew warned that the decision to strip Sir Roger of his role did not remove the belief that the review board was hell-bent on closing the Leeds unit.

That recommendation is currently on hold, after the Save Our Surgery campaign, boasting a 600,000-signature petition, won a judicial review into the process.

MPs from all sides attacked the way the saga had unfolded over the past few weeks – Leeds West MP Greg Mulholland branding it a “fiasco”.

The Liberal Democrat criticised Mr Hunt’s silence since the original decision, on March 28, and demanded a full investigation into Sir Roger’s “motivation”.

Gerry Sutcliffe, Labour MP for Bradford South, called for the Health Secretary to “condemn” the former heart tsar’s comments – something Mr Hunt refused to do.