Over 200 patients harmed by children's surgeon, according to mistakenly shared update
A report to the board of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that of the 924 of Kuldeep Stohr's patients reviewed so far, 209 "experienced harm"
An interim update that was shared by mistake has revealed that more than 200 patients were harmed at a hospital in Cambridge after they were operated on by a now-suspended surgeon.
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Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) commissioned an external review into the practice of orthopaedic consultant Kuldeep Stohr in 2024 after colleagues raised concerns.
Her clinical practice was restricted as a precautionary measure, and she remains suspended.
A report to the board of CUH, which has since been removed from the hospital’s website, said that of the 924 patients whose care has been reviewed so far, 209 “experienced harm.”
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One of the cases was fatal, and 47 were classed as severe.
Of the 209 who experienced harm, 139 received elective care when they were children.
It was previously reported that nine-year-old Jack Moate died in November 2015, within two months of being operated on by Ms Stohr at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
Jack, who had many complex medical needs and limited mobility, spent almost eight hours in surgery for the operation on his hips.
The hospital trust said his case had been referred to the coroner.
Nicola Ayton, chief executive at Cambridge University Hospitals, said that a “confidential interim update from the external clinical review was shared by mistake in our public board papers”.
She said she was “writing to every affected patient and family to apologise and explain what happened.”
The paper did not include any patient-identifiable information or any details about individual cases.
She continued: “We are deeply sorry to the patients and families who came to harm or experienced care below the standards they should expect.
“This should never have happened, and we are making changes so that something like this could not happen again.”
The external clinical review, chaired by Andrew Kennedy KC, is “due to be completed later this year”, she said.
“We have promised that once we receive the final report, which will include confirmed levels of patient harm, we will share it with patients and families first before publishing it in full,” she said.
Concerns had been raised as early as 2015 and were the subject of an external clinical review in 2016.
A separate independent review, which reported back last year, highlighted how the 2016 review raised concerns about Ms Stohr’s surgical technique and judgment, but it was “misunderstood”, and opportunities to act on the findings were “missed”.