The mother of a young girl operated on 17 times by a now-suspended surgeon has told Sky News she’s “angry and so upset” and fears her daughter may never walk again.
Her child is only eight years old and now needs further surgery, including a hip replacement.
She was one of nine patients whose treatment fell below the expected standard at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
The Department of Health told Sky News the situation is “incredibly concerning”.
The little girl’s case was uncovered following an external review into the specialist paediatric surgeon who has since been suspended.
The child was born with hip dysplasia, a condition affecting the hip socket, which can usually be fixed. But issues with her operations have left her using a wheelchair and crutches.
Her mother, who’s asked not to be named, said: “It’s like a big limp. She is not stable and can’t balance on that leg, so she always has to have an aide with her because she would fall over and hurt herself.”
Notes given to the family list a catalogue of serious issues involving the surgeon’s treatment, including “problems with both judgement and technique”.
Cambridge University Hospitals Trust is now reviewing 800 patients treated by the same surgeon.
Of these, 700 are children who underwent planned orthopaedic surgery. Another 100 are patients who received emergency trauma surgery.
What’s troubling the family now is that concerns were first raised about the surgeon a decade ago.
The mother said: “My daughter wasn’t born until 2016, so had the trust acted on this correctly, my daughter probably would never have seen that consultant and she would have probably been fine.”
An independent external investigation team is assessing whether issues could have been addressed earlier.
Sky News has spoken to several clinicians working at Addenbrooke’s. One is so concerned that they’ve contacted Health Secretary Wes Streeting, claiming the damage caused was “all avoidable” and that “many lives have been ruined”.
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‘The pain was all the time’
Tammy Harrison is 12 years old and has cerebral palsy. She was also operated on by the now-suspended surgeon.
There’s no evidence of any wrongdoing yet, but one of her operations didn’t work and left her in agonising pain.
“It felt like I was being stabbed. The pain was all the time, I couldn’t move and I couldn’t even get out of bed,” Tammy said.
She’s now unable to sit on the floor, and her legs are different lengths.
Her mum, Lynn, said she became worried about her care shortly after the operation.
She said: “The pain level wasn’t deteriorating. It just seemed like she was getting worse. And at the six-week review, I asked, why is she still in so much pain? And it was just brushed underneath her carpet.”
Cambridge University Hospitals say they’re deeply sorry and will do everything they can to support families and patients.
Lawyers representing one of the families say the numbers potentially impacted are “staggering”.
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Medical negligence solicitor at Osborne Law, Jodi Newton, said: “It’s clearly shocking in terms of the types of patients involved, in that most of those are children, and numbers – what we don’t know is whether there is going to be more patients than those already identified. It could be in its thousands.”
Families are now anxiously waiting for answers and the truth about their children’s treatment.
‘I wish I had spoken up more’
Lynn Harrison said: “I’m glad it’s come to light, and I wasn’t being an overprotective mum.
“But I am angry. I wish I had spoken up more and pushed further because other patients might not have had to suffer.”
