'My child won't walk again after failed surgery'

"My daughter walked into Addenbrooke's talking, and she was wheeled out non-verbal."

A mother is demanding "accountability" from Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Trust after two failed surgeries in 2018 left her daughter with life-altering injuries.

The procedures were carried out by consultant surgeon Kuldeep Stohr, who continued to practise at Addenbrooke's Hospital until 2024, despite concerns raised as early as 2015.

A Verita report, commissioned by CUH, found "a series of missed opportunities" to act on warnings. The trust has accepted the findings and apologised, adding that changes were under way.

Natasha's daughter, Neave, was born with positional talipes, a condition causing inward-turning feet.

She could hop, skip, walk and dance, but had difficulty running and at 11, had a surgery that was intended to improve her mobility.

"That was probably the last time she walked and called me mum," Natasha said of the surgery which she described as an "abject failure".

"She will never walk again."

Neave, now 18, suffers from curvature of the spine, muscle wastage, scar tissue, and deformed feet, Natasha added.

"I have blamed myself a lot for agreeing to the surgery in the first place," she said.

A separate review examining about 700 planned and 100 emergency operations involving Ms Stohr, some of which were for adults, was ongoing.

The Verita report concluded that earlier action from CUH could have reduced harm.

One "pivotal missed opportunity" was CUH's failure to act on a 2016 external review of the surgeon's work, the report said.

However, Natasha criticised the report as "appalling," adding it focused more on protecting the hospital's reputation than answering questions or holding anyone accountable.

"[It] doesn't really answer any questions and it doesn't really hold anyone to account," she said.

"I don't feel as if I can trust what is being said to me within that report."

Retired lawyer Radd Seiger, representing 25 affected families, said: "This was not a rogue surgeon — this was a rogue system."

He called for a judge-led public inquiry and the resignation of CUH chief executive Roland Sinker.