BMJ 2014;348:g1751 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g1751 (Published 25 February 2014)
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News
NEWS Police investigate work of UK colorectal surgeon after patients die Clare Dyer BMJ
Police are investigating the deaths of a number of patients in England who were operated on by a consultant colorectal surgeon in the West Midlands.
Sudip Sarker, a specialist in keyhole surgery for colon cancer, worked at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and the Worcestershire Royal Hospital from August 2011 until he was excluded from work by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in October 2012.
West Mercia police said that they could not specify how many deaths they would be looking at, but they confirmed that the investigation would include those of three patients whose joint inquest was adjourned in December 2013. William Jones, 84, Daphne Taylor, 81, and Jean Thomas, 80, all died after surgery in 2012 at the Alexandra Hospital. Sarker was stopped from operating on the advice of the Royal College of Surgeons, which was called in by the trust to review a sample of his cases. The review has not been published, but the Birmingham Mail reported that it showed high mortality and readmission rates compared with other surgeons.
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The college also recommended that the trust contact the General Medical Council, the doctors’ regulator. Conditions were imposed on Sarker’s practice last month. The trust said that it was “cooperating fully” with the police investigation. It added in a statement, “The trust would like to reassure patients and their relatives that as soon as it became aware there was a potential problem the trust acted swiftly and responsibly to protect its patients.” It alerted the college in July 2012 and asked it to review Sarker’s clinical practice, it restricted his practice while the review was going on, and it excluded him in October 2012.
The trust said that expert teams were reviewing patients of Sarker who had undergone major operations and those who had had outpatient appointments or minor procedures, and it added that patients who needed further investigation would be called back to the hospital. Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g1751 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
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Page 1 of 1
News
NEWS Police investigate work of UK colorectal surgeon after patients die Clare Dyer BMJ
Police are investigating the deaths of a number of patients in England who were operated on by a consultant colorectal surgeon in the West Midlands.
Sudip Sarker, a specialist in keyhole surgery for colon cancer, worked at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and the Worcestershire Royal Hospital from August 2011 until he was excluded from work by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in October 2012.
West Mercia police said that they could not specify how many deaths they would be looking at, but they confirmed that the investigation would include those of three patients whose joint inquest was adjourned in December 2013. William Jones, 84, Daphne Taylor, 81, and Jean Thomas, 80, all died after surgery in 2012 at the Alexandra Hospital. Sarker was stopped from operating on the advice of the Royal College of Surgeons, which was called in by the trust to review a sample of his cases. The review has not been published, but the Birmingham Mail reported that it showed high mortality and readmission rates compared with other surgeons.
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
The college also recommended that the trust contact the General Medical Council, the doctors’ regulator. Conditions were imposed on Sarker’s practice last month. The trust said that it was “cooperating fully” with the police investigation. It added in a statement, “The trust would like to reassure patients and their relatives that as soon as it became aware there was a potential problem the trust acted swiftly and responsibly to protect its patients.” It alerted the college in July 2012 and asked it to review Sarker’s clinical practice, it restricted his practice while the review was going on, and it excluded him in October 2012.
The trust said that expert teams were reviewing patients of Sarker who had undergone major operations and those who had had outpatient appointments or minor procedures, and it added that patients who needed further investigation would be called back to the hospital. Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g1751 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
