Report finds 20 patients suffered 'significant injuries' under Salford Royal surgeon
Granada Reports journalist Emma Sweeney reports
Nearly two dozen patients suffered significant injuries after being operated on by the same surgeon, a report has found.
It comes after an investigation into procedures performed by consultant John Bradley Williamson on 130 patients at Salford Royal Infirmary found numerous issues surrounding his care.
The report found 20 patients suffered from issues including long-term pain and mobility issues, as well as receiving "substandard surgery due to a lack of care and attention".
Actor Ruth Madeley, known for her role in Years and Years, was one of Mr Williamson's patients and says she now feels "vindicated" that her concerns were justified, but added she was "angry and upset at how patients were let down".
Now a firm of criminal negligence lawyers is calling for a wider review of his record.
The report into Mr Williamson found a number of issues including:
Substandard surgery was performed due to lack of care and attention
Patients suffered long-term pain and mobility issues
Those operated on suffered higher than expected blood loss
There was a lack of informed consent by patients before operations were carried out.
“In a high number of cases” the risks documented on the consent form and documents didn’t reflect those of the proposed surgery
Mr Williamson displayed “unacceptable and unprofessional behaviour”
It identified “serious and frequently occurring significant professional issues”
The review of more than 130 patients operated on between 2009 and 2014 also found seven people suffered “severe harm” while 13 suffered “moderate harm”.
How concerns and complaints from patients were investigated was also criticised.
The report found health bosses identified issues as “recognised complications” as a result of surgery rather than clinical events.
It meant they were not fully investigated and areas to improve patient safety were not identified.
Lawyers say Williamson's previous employers, including Manchester Children’s Hospital and Spire Manchester, should be recalled for a review of their care.
Catherine Slattery, a specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell said: "The key point is that we want lessons to be learnt in terms of the listening to patients and learning is being adapted across the trust in terms of how can we avoid these issues occurring.
"Most importantly, if there are patients out there that are suffering, they are looked at, reviewed recalled and provided with appropriate treatment and rehabilitation."
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which now runs Salford Royal Infirmary, launched a Spinal Patient Safety Look Back Review in 2021.
It was set up to examine Mr Williamson’s work while he was employed by the former Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust which used to run the hospital.
It followed a number of complaints from patients. Mr Williamson was employed at the Trust between 1991 and January 2015 when he was sacked.
The review said it is believed during that time Mr Williamson also worked at Manchester Children’s Hospital and had practising privileges at Spire Manchester Hospital.
It added separate investigations were under way into his practice at those hospitals.
The spinal surgery review into Mr Williamson’s work at Salford Royal, covered between August 2009 and September 2014 and related to 138 patients.
It identified 72 patients whose cases should be recalled for a review while 32 required no further action. Of the remaining 26 cases – 16 people who should have been recalled had died and 10 people who died wouldn’t have needed further review.
The review also found documentation was poor and found to be inaccurate or inconsistent with other records completed by healthcare professionals in a high number of cases.
His “surgical technique was judged to be poor in multiple cases”. This included issues with screw placement and screws being misplaced.
Actor Ruth Madeley, known for her role in Years and Years, was one of Mr Williamson's patients.
Ruth said: “For years I’ve had concerns about not only my care but also how my complaints have been handled.
"To finally see in black and white how patients didn’t always receive the care they should have but also that the Trust didn’t properly investigate is bittersweet.
"On the one hand I feel vindicated that my concerns were justified but also angry and upset at how patients were let down.
“Since having my first spinal surgery as a child, I feel my situation has got worse, and I live with chronic pain and fatigue.
"Sadly, I imagine my story isn’t a one-off and there’s many more people going through physical and psychological pain.
“This report is a welcome start but still doesn’t go far enough or cover the severity of what happened.
"I still feel that I don’t have all the answers to my questions and no doubt others will feel the same.
"The hospitals where Mr Williamson worked need to ensure they identify everyone he operated on and make sure any concerns they have are listened to and properly investigated.”
Dr Rafik Bedair, Northern Care Alliance Chief Medical Officer, said all those whose care or treatment was under review had been contacted.
He said: “Every patient has the right to receive a good standard of care and where this is not the case, they deserve to understand what went wrong.
"Sadly, in this case, things did go wrong, and 20 patients were harmed. We are deeply sorry for this.
“It is regrettable that it took so long for this investigation to happen, but when concerns were raised with us by a group of colleagues through our ‘Freedom to speak up’ process in 2021, we acted upon this quickly.
"Even though many of these surgeries were carried out years ago, time does not matter where patient safety is concerned.
“As a new leadership team, listening to our colleagues is incredibly important to us and we were determined to understand what happened and learn important lessons.
“We thank the patients and their families that have been involved in the review.
“Our spinal unit provides safe care for our patients and people should be assured that we’ve been in touch with anyone whose care or treatment we needed to look at.
"Of course, any patient who has any concerns, can come forward at any time for advice.”
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