Basildon Hospital: Five surgery deaths prompt review

The Essex coroner has been advised investigations will take six to 12 months

An investigation is under way after an "unusual" number of patients died last year following specialised surgery at an NHS hospital.

Five patients who underwent aortic abdominal aneurism repairs at Basildon University Hospital did not recover.

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has been brought in and a serious incident declared.

The Mid and South Essex NHS Trust said the surgery was continuing with increased monitoring.

Trust board papers said "aspects" of the vascular service, which deals with cases to do with the blood circulatory system, were at the centre of the inquiry.

Internal systems had picked up a spike in mortality rates in 2022.

According to the papers, the investigation had been initiated by the external investigator, the RCS, and will take a "minimum" of six months.

Aortic abdominal aneurism repair surgery has been described as a "highly complex" procedure

The Essex coroner has also been informed but has been told the trust was unclear as to how long the inquiry would take.

The Vascular Society said aortic abdominal aneurism surgery involves cutting open the abdomen to replace the aneurysm (a bulge or weakening of a blood vessel) with an artificial piece of artery known as a graft.

It is described as a major operation which "carries some risk".

David Walker, chief medical officer at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Following our regular internal governance process, we identified some unusual changes in the outcomes for a small number of patients that have had a very specialised operation known as abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

"We are working with our surgeons, anaesthetists and clinical governance teams to ensure we are running safe services for our patients having this highly complex operation and can learn lessons from when things have gone wrong."