Castle Hill Hospital faces legal action over seven TAVI heart operation deaths
Humberside Police said last month it was investigating a number of deaths linked to transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVIs), at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Solicitors say the families all experienced surgery "not being fully explained" and "a lack of transparency" from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The families say they only learned of wider concerns about the procedures following media reports.
Stuart Fields' mother Barbara, 76, suffered a stroke after having a TAVI and died three days later.
He said doctors claimed the operation had been a "success because they believe it went well".
He added: "The fact my mother had a stroke 10 minutes after waking up, and died three days later, seems irrelevant to them. They are in denial.
"Their narrative completely changed from before the procedure to what they were saying afterwards. Before we were told it was being done to improve her quality of life and extend her life.
"After she'd died their narrative was that she'd have died after six months anyway without the procedure. The attitude has been appalling."
Mr Fields said the family had been denied access to statistics on injury and death rates related to TAVI procedures.
'It was only when the recent story broke in the press about the police investigating deaths, and that thedeath rate at one stage being three times higher than the national average, that we knew more than ushad been affected," he said. "We always suspected so.'
TAVI is a heart valve treatment designed for people with heart disease who are not considered well enough for major surgery.
During the procedure, a catheter with a balloon on the tip is inserted into an artery in either the upper leg or the chest, which is then passed into the heart and positioned near the opening of the aortic value.
The balloon is then inflated, creating space for a new tissue value which is put in position and expanded.
TAVI puts less strain on the body as the heart does not need to be stopped and placed on bypass but is also recognised to carry a significant risk.
Hudgell Solicitors is representing the families involved.
The firm said cases being investigated date back to 2019, when TAVI procedures were introduced at the hospital, and involve patients aged 75 to 87.
The most recent was August last year, five months after the trust was presented with the findings of a 2023 Royal College of Physicians (RCP) review into 11 deaths following TAVI procedures.
The review identified poor levels of care in six cases, one of which was described as "very poor".
Solicitor Neil Hudgell said: 'The time has come for full transparency and proper accountability.
'We are now putting the next steps in motion towards achieving that by requesting full medical recordsof the patients whose families have come to us seeking answers around their treatment at Castle HillHospital and their subsequent deaths, and putting the trust on notice of intended legal action.
"Over recent weeks we have met and spoken at length with seven families who all tell a similar story ofthe risks and outcomes of surgery not being fully explained to them, and then a lack of transparency andclarity after their loved ones had passed.
"They are quite simply furious with the trust and they want answers."
The hospital trust has been approached for comment.
In a statement last month NHS Humber Health Partnership said families who had lost loved ones following TAVI treatment had been invited to discuss the cases.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the regional Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Royal College of Physicians remained "confident" in Castle Hill's service, they said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ITV News
4 days ago
- ITV News
Castle Hill Hospital faces legal action over seven TAVI heart operation deaths
Seven families are taking legal action against a hospital over the deaths of loved ones after routine heart operations. Humberside Police said last month it was investigating a number of deaths linked to transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVIs), at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, East Yorkshire. Solicitors say the families all experienced surgery "not being fully explained" and "a lack of transparency" from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The families say they only learned of wider concerns about the procedures following media reports. Stuart Fields' mother Barbara, 76, suffered a stroke after having a TAVI and died three days later. He said doctors claimed the operation had been a "success because they believe it went well". He added: "The fact my mother had a stroke 10 minutes after waking up, and died three days later, seems irrelevant to them. They are in denial. "Their narrative completely changed from before the procedure to what they were saying afterwards. Before we were told it was being done to improve her quality of life and extend her life. "After she'd died their narrative was that she'd have died after six months anyway without the procedure. The attitude has been appalling." Mr Fields said the family had been denied access to statistics on injury and death rates related to TAVI procedures. 'It was only when the recent story broke in the press about the police investigating deaths, and that thedeath rate at one stage being three times higher than the national average, that we knew more than ushad been affected," he said. "We always suspected so.' TAVI is a heart valve treatment designed for people with heart disease who are not considered well enough for major surgery. During the procedure, a catheter with a balloon on the tip is inserted into an artery in either the upper leg or the chest, which is then passed into the heart and positioned near the opening of the aortic value. The balloon is then inflated, creating space for a new tissue value which is put in position and expanded. TAVI puts less strain on the body as the heart does not need to be stopped and placed on bypass but is also recognised to carry a significant risk. Hudgell Solicitors is representing the families involved. The firm said cases being investigated date back to 2019, when TAVI procedures were introduced at the hospital, and involve patients aged 75 to 87. The most recent was August last year, five months after the trust was presented with the findings of a 2023 Royal College of Physicians (RCP) review into 11 deaths following TAVI procedures. The review identified poor levels of care in six cases, one of which was described as "very poor". Solicitor Neil Hudgell said: 'The time has come for full transparency and proper accountability. 'We are now putting the next steps in motion towards achieving that by requesting full medical recordsof the patients whose families have come to us seeking answers around their treatment at Castle HillHospital and their subsequent deaths, and putting the trust on notice of intended legal action. "Over recent weeks we have met and spoken at length with seven families who all tell a similar story ofthe risks and outcomes of surgery not being fully explained to them, and then a lack of transparency andclarity after their loved ones had passed. "They are quite simply furious with the trust and they want answers." The hospital trust has been approached for comment. In a statement last month NHS Humber Health Partnership said families who had lost loved ones following TAVI treatment had been invited to discuss the cases. The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the regional Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Royal College of Physicians remained "confident" in Castle Hill's service, they said.
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Castle Hill: 'Hospital gave us two death certificates for dad to cover up their mistake'
The family of a man who was issued with two death certificates after he died following a heart procedure says the hospital covered up what happened to Holmes died at Castle Hill Hospital, near Hull, which the BBC last month revealed was at the centre of a police investigation into several deaths. The hospital revised its statement of cause of death to remove reference to the operation. His daughter Lisa Jones said she believes medics had done so "to cover up what really happened".The NHS trust that runs the hospital said it could not comment on individual cases, but added "it is not uncommon for a death certificate to be amended following a discussion with the coroner's officer". There were 11 deaths at Castle Hill following TAVI procedures between 2019 and 2023, including Mr Holmes. The BBC understands a further six people have died there since last July after undergoing the hospital's mortality rate is above the national instead of open-heart surgery, a TAVI – or Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implant – involves inserting a new valve via a plastic tube through a blood vessel, often in the groin. The tube guides the new valve to the heart and replaces the damaged procedure, which typically lasts between one and two hours, is usually carried out under local anaesthetic and is mainly performed on older patients. Last month, the BBC disclosed Humberside Police were investigating the TAVI service at Castle Hill amid evidence that patients had died following medical complications which had been kept from their Holmes, an army veteran, went to Castle Hill in 2019 to undergo a TAVI."He thought it would make a new man of him," his wife Susan, 74, told the BBC. However, the procedure went wrong."They told us that the TAVI had got stuck, and then my husband ended up going into theatre and having a heart bypass. Then he haemorrhaged, and he ended up going back into theatre again. He was fighting for his life," she was a fight the 73-year-old unfortunately lost, and he died several days later."As far as we knew, they had done everything right, and it was just one of those things," Mrs Holmes like the other families the BBC has spoken to in recent weeks about the hospital's TAVI service at Castle Hill, the Holmes' understanding of what happened was not accurate as the hospital had chosen not to disclose the details to them. The BBC has seen an unpublished Royal College of Physicians (RCP) review, commissioned by the hospital, into the 11 TAVI deaths. It is excoriating about the care Mr Holmes review graded his treatment plan and implementation as very poor care - the lowest grading - with all other phases of care rated as reads: "Poor clinical decision making occurred at every stage of the patient's pathway, the incorrect positioning of the TAVI that might have been avoided with better planning and the death certification failed to reflect accurately the factors that contributed to the patient's death."Instead of the TAVI getting stuck, as the family had been told, the review reveals it was inaccurately placed too high up. When the medics released the valve, it moved into the aorta, a blood vessel in the heart. Unsuccessful attempts were made to move the valve before it was decided to undertake emergency cardiac surgery, including the complete removal of the TAVI."Shocking, absolutely shocking," Mrs Holmes said, sitting in her garden in Hull, alongside her two daughters. "The hospital never told us any of this.""They've just covered everything up – they've not told us anything whatsoever," added Ms Jones, 48. After Mr Holmes died, the family went to register his death with the death certificate the hospital provided. However, there was a problem at the registry office – the family aren't clear what it was – and they were told they had to go back to Castle Hill. They were then issued with a second death certificate, which said the primary cause of his death was pneumonia and severe aortic stenosis, a blocked heart reviewers from the RCP saw the original death certificate, which said Mr Homes died of pneumonia and a failed review team did not consider the second death certificate, which did not mention the TAVI, "to have been an accurate description of the causes of this patient's death". There was no evidence of referral to the coroner, it Jones said the family did not spot the death certificates had changed until the BBC showed them the review."When it first happened, you can't think about it because you're grieving, so we just thought they'd done something wrong with the death certificate," she said. "[But] they've took it back because they knew what happened. " She accused the hospital of using the second one "to cover up what had really happened to my dad"."It's very upsetting to find out what's been going on," adds her sister, Marie Holmes, 52. "I've always known at the back of my mind that something wasn't right."The trust that runs Castle Hill hospital, Humber Health Partnership, said that while it would not comment on an individual case "it is not uncommon for a death certificate to be amended following a discussion with the coroner's officer".Following the BBC story last month, seven families have instructed a law firm, Hudgell Solicitors, to act on their firm said its first task was to understand what happened to each family, including whether inquests were held or needed to be re-opened."The hospital are saying lessons have been learned," Neil Hudgell said. "Well you've not disclosed the Royal College report, can you mark your own homework? How do we know you've learned your lessons?"Board papers published last month show that the hospital is dealing with "a cluster of further deaths" in the TAVI service. The BBC understands this refers to six deaths of patients who had undergone a TAVI procedure between July 2024 and March provided by the trust show its mortality rate for the whole of 2024 and the first six months of 2025 was 2.2%; the latest available UK-wide mortality figure is 1.3%. The NHS trust said "mortality data for any procedure at a local level varies constantly and can fluctuate".Both the Care Quality Commission and NHS England were aware of problems with the TAVI service at Castle CQC said "concerns about the TAVI service were known to us", while the trust has been the subject of enhanced surveillance by NHS what they had done to ensure families were informed of the problems, neither organisation provided any England said it "couldn't comment due to the police investigation", while the CQC said they had rated surgery at Castle Hill as inadequate for safety in 2022 "due to the significant patient safety concerns".
BBC News
20-07-2025
- BBC News
Baby died in Scarborough 'after midwives dismissed concerns'
Midwives "dismissed" the concerns of a mother whose baby died shortly after being born, her lawyers have Parker, 27, told staff at Scarborough General Hospital about her son Sonny's heart rate slowing during labour in November 2022, but said she was "ignored".She said: "I went into hospital with a perfectly healthy baby after a great pregnancy with no issues or concerns, but left without a baby to take home and raise."The York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust apologised to Sonny's family and said it had implemented changes. Medical negligence specialists Hudgell Solicitors said that soon after arriving at hospital, Ms Parker was told that her baby would need to be induced because he was "on the larger side".It was alleged that medication used to make her womb contract should have been stopped four hours before it was potentially harmful to Sonny, the firm said, because his heart rate was slowing with every to the firm, the Trust admitted the allegation on 5 July and also accepted Sonny's death may have been prevented if a decision to deliver him was made more than 90 minutes before it was. 'Absolutely devastating' In a statement issued by the solicitors, Ms Parker said the experience was "heartbreaking"."My mum was with me when I was in labour and she was looking at the heart rate monitor and calling the midwives using the call button as she could see it dropping," she said."We were concerned but every time the midwives would come and say not to worry, and that they were checking it from their station, and so didn't need calling. It made us feel like we were being a nuisance."She said each physical examination became more painful, and she could tell something was wrong after Sonny was delivered because a midwife had tears in her eyes."There was no crying at all and I could hear a lot of activity, but nobody was saying anything," she said."To lose Sonny was absolutely devastating. It sounds an awful thing to say, but if I could go back, I would have taken the option to have had him delivered by Caesarean section, as I don't feel midwives can be trusted." Ms Parker criticised the communication she received by NHS services following the death of her son."About a week after, I received a message from the doctor's surgery congratulating me on the birth of my baby," she said."I just cried when I opened it. When I went for my post-birth check-up, the doctor had no idea Sonny had died."Ms Parker and her partner have now had a baby girl, who was born in said their daughter "really got us through all the difficult days".Medical negligence specialist Samantha Gardner, of Hudgell Solicitors, said the case was "wholly avoidable".She added: "Over the years our lawyers have seen hundreds of apologies to parents who have suffered loss and injury due to maternity negligence, and presently, we're seeing more than ever."In June, a national inquiry was announced into maternity Gardner welcomed the investigation, adding that it "must be driven by the experiences of patients, families and staff". 'Appropriate steps' A spokesperson for the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust offered "sincere condolences and apologies to Sonny's family".They said they "fully acknowledge how devastating the loss of a child is".A statement added: "The family has since met with our obstetric and paediatric teams."Sonny's case was referred to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), and we accepted and acted on the safety recommendations outlined in their report. We have also fully co-operated with the coroner's inquiry."The inquest concluded that there was an opportunity for Sonny to have been delivered earlier, which the spokesperson said was noted by the said: "The coroner was satisfied and reassured that the Trust is taking appropriate steps to implement changes to clinical guidelines and deliver a range of improvements in maternity care." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
