The Gazette
Newspaper

Dibsy 'couldn't sleep in a bed' a month ago - now he's climbed Roseberry Topping and lost 4st., external

A hospital "failed to ensure the standard of care that would reasonably be expected" of it in relation to the death of a man who had robotic heart surgery, it says.

Stephen Pettitt, 69, died after an operation to repair a mitral valve in his heart in March 2015 at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust medical director, Dr Andy Welch, apologised to Mrs Pettitt and her family.

"Unfortunately, on this occasion, we failed to ensure the standard of care that would reasonably be expected of us with a tragic outcome," he said.

"Following Mr Pettitt’s death, the robotic heart programme was stopped immediately and significant changes have been made, following a detailed investigation, in respect of process and training requirements, relating to the introduction of new procedures."

It said issues raised by the coroner at Mr Pettitt's inquest had beenlargely addressed by the Trust following the investigation and any further outstanding recommendations will be implemented immediately.”

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Daniel Holland

Council bosses were booed and heckled by protestors over plans to open an addiction recovery centre at a Newcastle library.

A debate on the future of Fenham Library was labelled "an absolute farce" by angry residents in the public gallery at Wednesday's meeting of Newcastle City Council.

A petition with more than 3,000 signatures opposing the development was presented in the council chamber, with campaign leaders saying they were "astonished" that the library was chosen as an appropriate location for recovering drug and alcohol addicts to receive help.

The centre had been due to open this week, but the authority announced last month that its completion would not be until December while further discussions are held with residents and experts.

Councillors ultimately voted 42 to 16 to approve the council's actions.

Councillor Kim McGuinness, cabinet member for culture, sport and public health, said that the council is "wholeheartedly aware" of the scale of opposition to the plans.

She said the library is the "perfect location" for the centre would provide desperately needed access to recovery services within a community, as well as saving the library from closure.

A coroner has said there "remains a risk of further deaths" from robotic surgery after a patient died at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.

Stephen Pettitt, 69, died in March 2015 after having robotic surgery on a mitral heart valve.

Recording a narrative verdict, Newcastle Coroner Karen Dilks said Mr Pettitt's death came as a "direct consequence of the operation and its complications".

She said she recognised Newcastle Hospitals Trust had reviewed its procedures in an action plan from October 2015, but in her view "there remains a risk of further deaths".

The coroner said the trust should establish a policy related to the use of proctors, or expert doctors, brought in to provide advice during new procedures. In Mr Pettitt's case two proctors left while the operation was still ongoing.

The inquest heard they could not have intervened in the operation as they were not registered with the General Medical Council.

The coroner also said Newcastle Hospitals Trust should consider establishing a multiple disciplinary team where any patient undergoing a new procedure can be discussed within a team meeting.

The coroner said there was an "absence of any benchmark" for training on new intervention treatments.

She told the inquest she will wrote to both the Royal College Of Surgeons and Department Of Health and National guidelines should be considered on this issue.

The family of a man who died when a robotic heart surgery operation went badly wrong said the investigation after his death revealed a "catalogue of errors".

Stephen Pettitt, 69, died after an operation to repair a mitral valve in his heart in March 2015 at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.

A narrative verdict was recorded at the inquest into his death.

In a statement his loved ones said: "Following Stephen's tragic death an investigation revealed a catalogue of errors including significant deficiencies in training and competence of the surgeon who had performed the procedure, who was subsequently dismissed.

"This was compounded by the fact that several observing clinicians left the theatre part-way through the procedure, and were therefore unable to assist when difficulties arose."

The coroner overseeing the inquest into the death of a man after robot heart surgery will ask the Department of Health and the Royal College of Surgeons to consider her report.

Stephen Pettitt, 69, suffered multiple organ failure following the operation by lead surgeon Sukumaran Nair at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, in February 2015.

He was the first person in the UK to undergo the pioneering procedure.

Recording a narrative verdict, Karen Dilks said: "Mr Pettitt died due to complications of an operation to treat mitral valve disease and, in part, because the operation was undertaken with robotic assistance."

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Ben O'Connell

Questions are being asked about Northumberland County Council's "international department" and the money being spent on it.

Concerns have been raised by the Labour opposition about what the council is spending on international projects, especially in light of repeated pledges that its new development company Advance Northumberland will not invest outside the county.

However, the authority has hit back, saying that it simply has a consultancy service, which brings in much-needed money for the council and was introduced by the previous Labour administration.

Image source, Northumberland County Council

Police investigating an assault outside a Newcastle nightclub have released an image of a man they want to trace.

Officers were called to Tup Tup Palace, on Saint Nicholas Street, at about 03:30 on 10 October following a report of an assault.

A 34-year-old man suffered a broken jaw and had been knocked unconscious. He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police have now identified a man they would like to speak to in connection with their enquiries. He is believed to have been in the area at the time and may be able to assist officers.

Image source, Northumbria Police

Luke Walton
BBC Look North

The North of Tyne combined authority is holding its first ever meeting this afternoon.

The North of Tyne plan follows decision of Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Durham to pull out pf the Government's North East devolution deal in 2016, leaving Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland to go it alone.

The authority will have powers over economic development, skills, training and housing.

Backers say it will create thousands of jobs and attract new investment and give the area a "seat at the national table" when it comes to lobbying for Government goodies.

But critics say the plan doesn't have cash, power or democratic legitimacy -ie wasn't put to a referendum - that it needs.

Next May, voters will elect a mayor to lead the new body.

Lucy Todd
BBC Music reporter

Image source, Jack Whitefield

Sam Fender has thoughts... and he's not afraid to share them.

The Dead Boys singer from North Shields, who this time last year was tipped for the BBC's Sound Of 2018, doesn't rate fellow guitar acts, or millennials.

And don't get him started on Ed Sheeran.

Read the full article here.

Mark Denten
BBC Look North

An inquest into the death of a patient who died after robotic surgery has heard the surgeons carrying out his operation had "no back up plan".

Stephen Pettitt, 69, from Whitley Bay died in March 2015 after an operation to repair a mitral valve in his heart at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

It was the first time the procedure had been attempted using robotic equipment at the hospital.

Prof David Anderson a consultant cardiac surgeon at Guys and St Thomas's Hospitals in London carried out an independent investigation into the case at the request of the General Medical Council and Northumbria Police.

He told the inquest there was "nothing to indicate there was a plan B" when problems arose during Mr Pettitt's operation.

Prof Anderson said if Stephen Pettitt's operation had been carried out conventionally rather than using surgical robots "he would have survived it" and it would have been "low risk". He said Mr Pettitt's condition was not associated with sudden death.

He agreed there was no benchmark the performance of the chief surgeon in the case Sukumaran Nair could be balanced against. But Professor Anderson said Mr Nair's record in other minimally invasive operations demonstrated "very slow surgery" involving long cross clamp times of the aorta.

Representing Mr Pettitt's family Georgina Nolan said he wouldn't have specifically consented to the operation if he'd known he would be the first patient to have the procedure although he had understood he'd be "one of the first"

The inquest at Newcastle Civic Centre continues.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Newcastle

Sunderland fans are nearing the completion of a major project to renew about 31,000 seats at the Stadium of Light.

Work on the project, which began in July, is set to be completed by about tea time today.

So far aabout 4,000 volunteers have given up their time to install the seats. It's part of a wider refurbishment of the 21-year-old ground.

The Chronicle

A bouncer sacked by Perdu after allegedly attacking a teenage girl is facing another probe., external

The former Archdeacon of Auckland, George Granville Gibson, has appeared in court charged with historical sex offences.

He faces two charges of indecently assaulting a boy under the age of 14 and three other counts of indecent assault on a man.

The retired 82-year-old, from Darlington, is accused of carrying out the offences in the 1970s and 1980s, when he occupied various roles around the region within the Anglican church.

He appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court and was granted unconditional bail ahead of his next court appearance at Teesside Crown Court on 6 December

Thousands of pounds of stock including cigarettes and alcohol were stolen from the Co-Op store on Norton High Street in the early hours.

Two suspects approached the store shortly before 01:30 and stole about £2,000 worth of goods and a charity box containing cash.

The first suspect is described as wearing a black jacket, black hooded top, dark bottoms, black gloves and a black balaclava.

The second suspect is described as wearing a dark blue jacket with a small white logo, a black balaclava, dark coloured bottoms, black gloves and black trainers.

The father of a teenager from Northumberland who was found dead in a Manchester canal is to meet the city's mayor today.

Charlie Pope, from Ponteland, was 19 when he went missing during a night out in March. His body was found in the Rochdale Canal.

Ever since, his father Nick has been campaigning to have barriers installed along the canal.

He has met RoSPA to discuss what lessons can be learned from his son's death and what steps can be taken to prevent another tragedy.

At today's meeting with Andy Burnham, he hopes to hear the results of RoSPA's investigation.

Image source, Family handout

Stephen Howard sent us this striking photo of one of the remembrance display in Nunthrope, Middlesbrough. It's really striking.

Image source, STEPHEN HOWARD

If you want to send us photos you can tweet us, external, contact us via our Facebook page , externalor email us.

The Shields Gazette

The boss of a pub where a number of children were injured when a firework display went wrong has apologised., external

Image source, Shields Gazette

A second person has died in Hartlepool after taking what police believe to be a "laced" batch of heroin.

The 30-year-old woman had been in a critical condition in hospital since Saturday, and the death follows that of a 34-year-old local man on Sunday.

Cleveland Police said it was awaiting the results of toxicology reports, but it was believed the two incidents were linked to heroin laced with fentanyl or carfentanyl.

Fentanyl, an anaesthesia used to help prevent pain after surgery, is about 100 times more powerful than heroin and Carfentanyl, which is used on animals, is 100 times more potent than that.

Joanne D'Onofrio says she is "at the end of the road" and in urgent need of a kidney.