The care of hundreds of NHS patients — many of them children — is being urgently reviewed because concerns about a surgeon at one of England’s leading hospitals.
She is Kuldeep Stohr, a specialist paediatric orthopaedic consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals Trust. Stohr, who spoke of seeing 200 patients a month at Addenbrooke’s Hospital during a 2022 webinar, has been suspended by the trust after an initial review in January identified nine children who had suffered care “below the standard” the trust would expect.
This review was conducted by James Hunter, a surgeon and the national clinical leader for paediatric trauma and orthopaedics at NHS England, who found that the quality of some children’s lives had been affected.
Now the trust has worked with Hunter to identify 800 of Stohr’s patients to be assessed by a team of experts in a new review. Of these, about 560 are children and 140 are adults. Another 100 adults and children who were treated as emergencies at the Cambridge hospital will have their care reviewed. Addenbrooke’s is one of England’s 27 major trauma centres that see and treat the most seriously injured adults and children.
Many of the cases involving Stohr are linked to osteotomies — a surgical procedure where a bone is cut to reshape or realign bones such as those in the legs. Some families fear the operations were not performed correctly, with some children having to have multiple operations over several years. There are concerns about poor post-surgery follow-up and alleged delays in complications being recognised and treated.
This includes one child who allegedly had dislocated hips for up to two years. Some are likely to need more surgery.
Stohr was suspended in January after having her practice restricted by the trust last October when colleagues at the hospital first raised concerns about her. But the trust is facing questions about whether it could have acted sooner after saying she was the subject of undisclosed allegations a decade ago. A review completed by 2016 identified concerns about the treatment of a small number of patients and made recommendations to the trust for actions it should take.
Catherine Slattery, an expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is supporting affected families and patients, said: “The hospital trust needs to be open with families to ensure all care and governance issues which could improve patient safety are identified. One of the most worrying questions connected to this review is whether the recommendations of the 2016 report were actually implemented.
“Given the level of detail the trust has released, there’s currently an understandable concern that the 2016 recommendations may not have been implemented and patients may have suffered avoidable harm as a result of actions recommended nearly a decade ago not being put into practice. Transparency is key to helping maintain public confidence in the trust and the care it provides.”
She said she had heard “heartbreaking stories” from families whose care has not yet been examined.
“It’s now vital that patients and their families are supported so they can be provided with the answers they deserve but, where appropriate, access to any follow-up treatment and rehabilitation they may require. The impact of substandard care should never be downplayed. It can have devastating and have lifelong consequences.”
The Cambridge University Hospitals Trust announced the findings of the initial review in February but did not name Stohr.
Stohr studied medicine at the University of London and King’s College Hospital, qualifying in 1999. She completed her training in London and Oxford before working as a fellow in hand surgery at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. She worked at hospitals in Auckland, New Zealand, as well as at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
The Cambridge trust is understood to have notified Great Ormond Street and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital about the concerns with Stohr’s care. NHS England and the care regulator the Care Quality Commission have also been informed.
Stohr, a specialist in paediatric orthopaedic surgery and paediatric trauma, has no restrictions on her licence from the General Medical Council. The watchdog has been informed by the Cambridge trust about its concerns.
Stohr has worked privately at the Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital, charging £200 for a first consultation and £180 for a follow-up. During her suspension by the trust she is not working at the Nuffield Health hospital.
She said in a statement: “I always strive to provide the highest standards of care to all my patients. I am co-operating fully with the trust investigation and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
A team of expert clinicians will conduct the review of 700 patients, overseen by the barrister Andrew Kennedy KC. Kennedy said in a statement: “We will work tirelessly to examine all the cases within the scope of this review and to ensure that any shortcomings in care are identified as quickly as possible so that patients and families are fully informed and further consultations and treatment can be offered as appropriate.”
The trust has committed itself to publishing the findings of the reviews. Its chief executive Roland Sinker said: “We remain very sorry that this has happened and we apologise unreservedly to our patients and their families. While this retrospective review will take time, we are committed to fully examining all of the cases. 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.”
Each affected family will be contacted and some could be clinically assessed to ensure they are not suffering from any untreated complications. The trust has also appointed a family liaison officer to help support families during the investigations.
