Families whose children were treated by a suspended surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital say senior managers should “leave or be sacked” after an independent report found multiple failings.
Sky News has seen a copy of the report, set to be published today, which finds Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust “missed an opportunity” to act sooner.
The report looks at the practice of Kuldeep Stohr, a specialist paediatric orthopaedic surgeon, and why an earlier report from 2016 that raised concerns about her wasn’t acted upon.
Ms Stohr was suspended after a review found issues with some of her surgeries, and 800 of her patients are now having their cases reviewed.
In a statement following her suspension earlier this year, she said she was “co-operating fully with the trust investigation”, adding: “I always strive to provide the highest standards of care to all my patients.”
Among the patients having their cases reviewed is Tammy Harrison, who is 13 and had three surgeries with Ms Stohr.
Two of the operations didn’t work and left Tammy in constant pain.
Her mum Lynn was sent a copy of the report before its publication.
“It feels like they’d rather protect their reputation and the face of the hospital and protect their job than put my child first,” she said.
The independent report states: “Nothing substantial was done by the trust to address any of Ms Stohr’s clinical practice shortcomings.”
It highlights how failures to act on 2016’s findings “resulted in prolonged risk to patients”.
‘It’s worse than we thought’
The new report also points to wider, systemic issues within the trust. Senior staff interviewed for the investigation described “an organisational culture that is reluctant to learn from others”.
Some families are being represented by legal adviser Radd Seiger, who said: “It’s worse than we ever thought.
“We are talking about, supposedly, one of the greatest hospitals in the world that has somehow conspired to allow a surgeon over a 10-year period to cause harm to innocent children.”
Ms Harrison is demanding the resignations of the hospital’s chief executive and entire leadership team.
“Either leave or be sacked, because I will not rest until him and the rest of the board have gone because I can’t put my trust and faith in that hospital when it comes down to my child,” she said.
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‘This should not have happened’
The report makes 23 recommendations, which trust chief executive Roland Sinker said would be addressed.
“We are deeply sorry for the impact this incident has had on our patients and their families,” he added.
“This should not have happened, and we are committed to making changes so it does not happen again.
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“We remain focused on supporting our patients and families throughout this incident, and this is why we’ve given them advanced access to the report.
“We recognise the need to be totally transparent about the findings of the investigation so we are publishing the report in full on our website alongside an action plan which sets out how we will address the investigation’s findings.”
