A new investigation into operations carried out by a Manchester surgeon found to have harmed patients has been announced by NHS England.
A new investigation into operations carried out by a Manchester surgeon found to have harmed patients has been announced.
NHS England has said it will look back into two hospital reviews that examined the care provided by John Bradley Williamson, who worked at Salford Royal Hospital and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital from 1991 to 2015.
The latest review comes after patients raised concerns that the previous reviews were too limited.
“While the announcement of another review is welcome, it will not on its own address the wider concerns that many patients, including our clients, continue to have. Previous reviews were too limited in scope and didn’t consider the individual views of patients and their treatment,” said Catherine Slattery, medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, which is representing patients.
“Any new review must be as thorough and transparent as possible in order to satisfy our clients’ concerns going forward and will be a key component in ensuring public confidence in the system is maintained,” she continued.
A review launched
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which now runs Salford Royal, launched a review examining Williamson’s work while he was employed by the former Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust which used to run the hospital.
The investigation which examined the cases of more than 130 patients operated on by Williamson between 2009 and 2014 found that seven people suffered “severe harm” while 13 suffered “moderate harm”.
The report found issues including substandard surgery, patients suffering long-term pain and mobility issues, while those operated on suffered higher than expected blood loss as well as a lack of informed consent from patients.
Last March 2024, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, published its report into Mr Williamson’s practice relating to 56 patients operated on at the children’s hospital.
In parallel, in May last year, Spire extended its recall of patients treated by Williamson at Spire Manchester Hospital. It had already carried out a comprehensive recall of patients who underwent specific spinal procedures by Williamson between 2008 and 2013.
“We are committed to reviewing the care of all patients where concerns are raised,” said Cathy Cale, Spire Healthcare’s group medical director at the time. “As we near the completion of the review of Mr Williamson’s patients who underwent certain procedures in the last five years that he performed surgery at Spire Manchester, we have concluded we should try to review all his patients that received these procedures.”
