Hundreds of orthopaedic patients – mostly children – suffered “harm” at an NHS hospital in England, which is currently reviewing cases dealt with by a suspended surgeon, reports the BBC.
Kuldeep Stohr was suspended by Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge last year amid concerns about surgeries that were “below the expected standard”.
A now-removed report to the hospital trust’s board stated that of the 924 patients reviewed so far, 209 “experienced harm”, most being children having elective surgery. Forty-seven were classed as severe, with one being fatal.
Some are unlikely to ever fully recover.
Reviews
Two separate reviews were launched, and an update on one of those, which was mistakenly released before being removed from the hospital trust’s board papers, was what actually revealed the true scale of the damage.
The report had been sent to the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) earlier this month. It was titled “Orthopaedic review programme update”.
Stohr was suspended by the hospital and has not been at work since March 2024, initially for personal reasons.
In her absence, her patients had been seen by other doctors who then discovered a “higher than expected level of complications”.
The initial review in 2025 found operations involving nine children were below expected standards.
How did concerns emerge?
Stohr was appointed by Addenbrooke’s to her first consultant position in 2012, having previously done fellowships at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, and in New Zealand.
During her absence from work for personal reasons in 2024, other doctors seeing her patients were concerned by the number of complications they witnessed – which triggered the first review.
Nine children’s operations were below expected standards. They included Darcey, from Cambridgeshire, who in 2022, had a procedure linked to her dislocating hips.
Her parents said that after surgery, “without support, her leg would inwardly rotate almost to 90 degrees” and she then needed another operation.
One of the two reviews was by investigations company Verita into possible missed opportunities: the other was a clinical review led by Andrew Kennedy KC.
What they found
Verita found there was a “series of missed opportunities both major and minor, in how [the hospital trust] and its leadership addressed concerns”.
Stohr’s arrival at the trust was “disorganised”, she had “quickly inherited a large workload” and had “fragmented and remote clinical supervision”: she was also “under-managed in the early years … at the trust”.
Deleted
The deleted update said 994 patients had “now had an initial clinical review” – and 93% of cases were fully completed.
The trust’s chief executive Nicola Ayton has apologised to parents and patients for any harm they came to while under the care of Addenbrooke’s – and for information being put in the public domain when it should not have been.
But one woman whose daughter was operated on by Stohr said the Verita report had focused more on protecting the hospital’s reputation than answering questions or holding anyone accountable.
She has called for a public inquiry.
Stohr has previously said she was co-operating with investigations and: “I always strive to provide the highest standards of care to all my patients.”
BBC article – Unanswered questions after hundreds of patients harmed (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
British paediatric surgeon suspended for ‘below standard’ ops
UK’s NHS forks out billions to settle negligence claims
Surgeon banned from private practice still works for NHS