NHS launches surgery review after children hurt

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

NHS England has said it will conduct a "wider review" into complex orthopaedic and spinal surgery services after a surgeon was suspended from a world-renowned NHS hospital.

Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, commissioned its own review after children under the surgeon's care were left with lasting injuries.

An NHS spokesperson said the new review would build on what was already under way.

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

Hospital chief executive Roland Sinker said the trust was "committed to ensuring all affected patients and families receive appropriate care and support"

The hospital's 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 trust's chief executive Roland Sinker apologied to patients and their families.

He 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 its review.

The NHS England spokesperson said: "In addition to the trust's review of cases and investigation into whether this unacceptable practice could have been stopped sooner, NHS England will be conducting a wider review into high-complexity, low-volume orthopaedic and spinal surgery services.

"This would build on work already under way to update the service specification for specialised paediatric orthopaedic surgery."