Surgeon suspended after children hurt by treatment

A specialist surgeon has been suspended from a world-renowned NHS hospital after children under their care were left with lasting injuries.

A review was commissioned at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, after concerns were raised by the surgeon's colleagues in October.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said an independent expert found operations involving nine children fell "below expected standards" on several occasions over the past two and a half years.

The trust's chief executive Roland Sinker said: "We are very sorry that this has happened and we apologise unreservedly to our patients and their families."

Addenbrooke's is the East of England's designated major trauma centre.

The review, completed in January, analysed a number of complex paediatric hip surgery cases performed at the hospital.

It found some of the children's quality of life had been affected, including their mobility.

The procedures in question did not result in amputation, but some of the children required further surgery they otherwise would not have needed, the trust said.

The doctor was put on restricted duties while the investigation took place.

They were suspended after the review and were "fully co-operating" with the trust's process, Mr Sinker said.

A helpline was made available for parents who were concerned about the treatment their children had received.

The trust has also been contacting the patients and their families to schedule appointments and undergo further clinical assessments where required.

Mr Sinker said: "We take this matter extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring all affected patients and families receive appropriate care and support."

The hospital trust contacted the General Medical Council, NHS England and the Care Quality Commission in light of the review.

"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," Mr Sinker added.

He said a further review was planned looking at all the operations undertaken by the surgeon during their employment at the trust.

It is the second NHS hospital performing complex surgery to have reviewed the work of a paediatric surgeon in the past six months.

In September, Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London reviewed the cases of about 700 children after concerns about one of its doctors.