In October 2024, following concerns raised by colleagues, the Trust commissioned an external review into the practice of an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in paediatric surgery.
The review was carried out by an independent expert and considered a number of complex paediatric hip surgery cases performed by the Trust’s orthopaedic service over the past two and a half years.
The external review was completed in January 2025 and identified that the outcomes of treatment provided to nine children were below the standard we would expect and that they and their families are entitled to expect from us. The review does not suggest that any of the outcomes were life threatening but for some has impacted on their quality of life.
As a precautionary measure in 2024, the Trust had restricted the individual’s clinical practice. Following the outcome of the review, they were suspended and are fully co-operating with the Trust’s process.
We are very sorry that this has happened and we apologise unreservedly to our patients and their families.
Action we are taking
We take this matter extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring all affected patients and families receive appropriate care and support.
The Trust is contacting the patients and their families identified through this external review. We will now schedule appointments, where required, for them to undergo further clinical assessments.
We have also put in place arrangements to commission a further external review into all of the planned surgical operations carried out by the individual during their employment with the Trust. This will review the quality of care received by those patients.
While this retrospective review will take time, we are committed to fully examining all of the cases and we will be proactive in contacting patients and their families in any case where we identify the possibility that there has been a poorer than expected outcome from their treatment.
Separately, we will identify whether there were any opportunities to have identified these concerns earlier as well as any wider learning and changes required in the immediate and longer term.
Support for patients and families
We will directly contact patients and families if we find any reason to suggest concerns about their treatment. We have also set up a dedicated freephone telephone helpline on 0808 175 6331 so that any patients or families who are concerned about their care can speak to us if they wish to.
The helpline is open:
- Until 8pm on Friday 14th February
- 9am-4pm on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th February
- 9am-4pm the week of Monday 17th February
There is also a dedicated email address CUH.helpline@nhs.net and we will respond as quickly as we can.
Regulatory and Oversight Bodies
We have informed the General Medical Council, NHS England and the Care Quality Commission and we are keeping them fully updated.
We are grateful for the understanding of our patients and their families as we carry out this further review. We will do this as quickly as possible while ensuring it is thorough, comprehensive, open and transparent. We will also provide updates on progress.