NHS trust accused of 'covering up' concerns about suspended surgeon should be criminally investigated, say families of patients
A joint investigation by Sky News and The Sunday Times found the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) may have downplayed previous concerns about Kuldeep Stohr, who was suspended from Addenbrooke's Hospital in January this year.
A 2016 report, seen by Sky News and The Sunday Times, identified "technical issues" with multiple surgeries done by Ms Stohr - despite a letter shared between staff at the time saying the trust was satisfied it did not raise any concerns.
3:05
A senior source at the hospital said children were "severely permanently harmed" as a result of Ms Stohr, and "some of the cases are horrendous".
They said the damage could have been avoided and told Sky News there was "the impression of a cover-up".
Radd Seiger, a lawyer representing a number of children and families treated by Ms Stohr, has now called on Cambridgeshire Police to open a criminal investigation into hospital leaders who investigated the surgeon for allegedly covering up patient safety concerns.
He said the investigation should specifically investigate the 2016 external clinical review into Ms Stohr, which the Sky News report highlighted.
In response to the Sky News report, Dr Susan Broster, chief medical officer at CUH, said the trust "apologises unreservedly to all the patients and families we have let down".
She added that patients who were considered in the 2016 report also form part of a clinical review of the care of 800 patients, which was launched in March.
Ms Stohr said: "I always strive to provide the highest standards of care to all my patients. I am cooperating fully with the trust investigation, and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."
What the 2016 report said
The doctor who authored the 2016 report wrote he had "some anxieties about the technical aspects" of one patient's operation, and highlighted "technical error[s]" on several others.
It added Ms Stohr did not always order CT scans after operations took place.
The report also highlighted wider issues within the hospital, including a "divided department of paediatric orthopaedics" in which "discussion of difficult cases and mutual support does not exist".
Ms Stohr was suspended at the beginning of this year after a 2025 report highlighted similar concerns, including around post-op imaging.
It also raised concerns that Ms Stohr "frequently operates on her own", or with more junior members of staff.
A Cambridgeshire police spokesperson said: "We received an online report in relation to this matter today and are now in the process of reviewing the information sent to us."
The CUH said it has set up a dedicated Patient and Family Liaison Team, and encourages anyone concerned about their care to call the dedicated helpline on 0808 175 6331 or email .
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Nearly 1,000 Britons adopt permanently shorter working week after trial
Nearly 1,000 British workers will adopt a permanently shorter working week, after the latest trial of a four-day week and similar changes to traditional working patterns. All 17 British businesses in a six-month trial of the four-day week said they would continue with an arrangement consisting of either four days a week or nine days a fortnight. All the employees remained on their full salary. The trial was organised by the 4 Day Week Foundation, a group campaigning for more businesses to take up shorter working weeks. The latest test follows a larger six-month pilot in 2022, involving almost 3,000 employees, which ended in 56 of 61 companies cutting down their hours from a five-day working week. The 4 Day Week Foundation is hoping to build on the shift around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, when campaigns led by trade unions gave birth to the two-day weekend. The previous norm for many people in Britain and other traditionally Christian countries had been a six-day working week, with time off only on Sundays. Campaigners and some economists argue that the four-day week can offer benefits to workers such as less strain on their mental health, and to businesses, including more motivated staff and easier recruitment and retention. Researchers at Boston College, a US university, said that the findings from the latest trial were 'extremely positive' for workers. They found that 62% of workers reported that they experienced less burnout during the trial, according to a poll of 89 people. Forty-five percent of those polled said they felt 'more satisfied with life'. The 4 Day Week Foundation has run successive trials to gather data and demonstrate how companies can make the switch. In January, the foundation said more than 5,000 people from a previous wave had started the year permanently working a four-day week. Companies involved in the latest trial, which started in November, included charities and professional services firms, with the number of employees at each employer ranging between five and 400. They included the British Society for Immunology and Crate Brewery in Hackney, east London, Campaigners hope that they can build momentum for the change. The 4 Day Week Foundation said the government should create a working time council to coordinate policy between business and industry leaders as well as trade unions. The concept of the four-day week faced strong opposition from the previous Conservative government. Labour ministers have previously expressed more support for the concept, although they have offered little in the way of formal recognition since coming to power in 2024. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion In 2023, Angela Rayner, who has since become deputy prime minister, said: 'If you can deliver within a four-day working week, then why not. I think people will cotton on to the fact that it's really good, if it works for their sector and boosts productivity.' The small web software company BrandPipe said that the latest trial had been a success for the business, coinciding with increased sales. Geoff Slaughter, the BrandPipe chief executive, said: 'The trial's been an overwhelming success because it has been the launchpad for us to consider what constitutes efficiency, and financial performance is double what it was before.' Slaughter added: 'If we're going to see it rolled out more substantially across different sectors, there should be incentives for early adopters, because we're creating the blueprint for the future.'
The Independent
41 minutes ago
- The Independent
NHS plan vows to end ‘8am scramble' for GP appointment
The government announced a radical 10-year plan to overhaul the NHS, aiming to shift healthcare from hospitals to community and home-based services. The strategy outlines three major shifts: moving from analogue to digital services, prioritising prevention over treatment, and transitioning from hospital-centric care to community-based provision. By 2035, most outpatient services are expected to be delivered outside hospitals, with new neighbourhood health services providing diagnostics, post-operative care, and mental health support closer to communities. The plan includes training thousands more GPs, encouraging AI use for notes, and improving dental care access, including a requirement for newly-qualified dentists to practice in the NHS. The initiative seeks to reduce pressure on GPs and A&E, making healthcare more accessible and integrated into daily life, though experts raise concerns about funding and workforce shortages.
BBC News
42 minutes ago
- BBC News
NHS boss says Labour's 10-year plan for NHS is essential
A hospital boss has admitted that NHS services are struggling and said it is essential for the government's new 10-year plan to are being made as part of Labour's 10-year health strategy published today. Nick Hulme, chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) said: "We are not in crisis yet, but we are in a really, really tricky situation."Part of the shake-up will lead to neighbourhood health services rolled out across the country in an attempt to bring diagnostics, mental health, post-op, rehab, and nursing to people's doorsteps. The plan has put more emphasis on community care and GP surgeries but Mr Hulme, in charge at Colchester Hospital and Ipswich Hospital, said there needs to be funding to go with told the BBC: "We can see full hospitals up and down the country, sadly, with patients still waiting in the corridors. "That is something we might have seen in the winter four or five years ago - we now see it throughout the year. "We know the NHS simply cannot cope with that level of demand with the resources we have at the moment."He said there were significant challenges in A&E and on waiting times. Prevention and support He believes the NHS needs to change what the public can expect from the service and shift the focus away from just purely hospital care. Mr Hulme said frail, elderly, people who still live independently were most likely to be brought into the hospital after a fall or infection. "We know in our communities who is at highest risk at being admitted into hospital."If we get some care and get some prevention and support those families and individuals much earlier it will prevent them coming into hospital for issues that they don't need an acute bed for, " he added. He also said the plan hopes to bring the NHS "into the 21st Century" by encouraging people to use the NHS app and booking appointments electronically. Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk.
