A police investigation into allegations of cover-up and medical negligence over dozens of deaths at the Royal Sussex county hospital (RSCH) in Brighton has been expanded to include more recent cases, amid internal claims about dangerous surgery.
In June the Guardian revealed that Sussex police were investigating the deaths of about 40 patients in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments at the RSCH.
The force initially said the investigation, since named Operation Bramber, related to allegations of medical negligence in these departments between 2015 and 2020.
It has now extended the scope of the investigation to more recent cases, amid internal allegations that the departments continue to be unsafe and fail to properly review serious incidents.
An insider said the police should review what was considered to be an avoidable death after a procedure in July. The source said some of the surgeons remained a danger to the public. “You would not want your family members touched by these people,” they said.
They added: “This is not a historic issue, it is ongoing. The same surgeons that were involved in previous problems remain in place.” They cited a woman who lost the power of speech in April after an alleged mistake in surgery to remove a brain tumour led to a stroke, and a man who was left with a brain abscess in May after being operated on despite a heightened risk of infection.
Sussex police confirmed they had extended the timeframe of Operation Bramber to 2021 and that the investigation includes incidents of serious patient harm as well as deaths.
New cases that are under review by police include that of Lewis Chilcott, 23, who died at the hospital in July 2021 after an alleged error in a tracheostomy led to infection and a fatal arterial haemorrhage. A coroner concluded that he had died from damage caused by a rare complication of the procedure. A review by the Royal College of Surgeons found that it was likely that the low position of the inserted tube caused the fatal damage.
Chilcott’s father, Simon, who has spoken to the police, said he was ignored for 10 weeks when he first raised questions about his son’s death. He says the hospital eventually agreed to conduct a serious incident report. The report is now on its fifth draft after a series of factual errors were identified by Chilcott’s family.
Chilcott’s treatment and the way the hospital dealt with the family is being investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. His father’s complaint said: “Throughout the numerous serious investigation reports, information has been inadequate, incorrect, missing, watered down and only corrected when I have raised the issues regarding incorrect information. Which in turn raises my suspicions of openness and transparency.”
Simon Chilcott was also concerned that a consultant anaesthetist involved in the operation was not asked by the hospital to be part of an investigation into what went wrong.
He added that clinicians had been prevented from talking about the case with the family. At a hospital meeting he said one told him: “I’ve been desperate to meet you for over a year to offer my condolences, but RSCH forbid any surgical staff from engaging with you.”
Chilcott says police have told him that they are reviewing his son’s treatment to see if the circumstances fit with its investigation.
A detective from Sussex police’s safeguarding investigation unit has also visited the family of Jugal Sharma, 63, who was left severely disabled in April 2020 after he was misdiagnosed as having a grade 4 tumour requiring immediate operation. He suffered a stroke during the operation that was not initially noticed, according to his family. The tumour turned out to be a less serious grade 2 cancer.
The operating consultant repeatedly featured in a 70-page document about alleged mistakes in surgery that led to deaths and patient harm reported to the trust by consultant neurosurgeon Mansoor Foroughi. Soon after blowing the whistle, Foroughi was dismissed for “acting in bad faith”. He is appealing against his dismissal.
Sharma’s family say they have also been struggling to get answers from the trust about what went wrong. In June the family requested a copy of any morbidity and mortality (M&Ms) review, which should have been conducted into Jugal’s care. It has yet to be provided. Strokes are an inherent risk in surgery of this type, but the concern is about the frequency with which they occurred.
Last week they say the police officer reviewing the case asked Jugal’s family if it had had a response to the request.
Jugal’s wife, Audrey, said: “I believe the only way to improve is to review what went wrong. But despite us raising questions, no one is interested.”
She added: “Why was Jugal’s head opened up for grade 2 tumour, when a serious amount of damage was done to him and a stroke occurred that they hadn’t noticed. He went in with a bleed on the brain and came out completely disabled.”
Chilcott said he was “encouraged” that police were reviewing his son’s case. But he added: “The only way things will change at that hospital is if the management is removed from power.” He said the trust’s chief executive, George Findlay, and his predecessor, Marianne Griffiths, whom Jeremy Hunt praised as the best management team in the NHS, should “hang their heads in shame”.
He also criticised what he said was the “disgraceful” treatment of Foroughi and Krishna Singh, a consultant surgeon who lost his post as clinical director after blowing the whistle.
A spokesperson for University Hospitals Sussex NHS foundation trust, which runs the hospital, said:“We are unable to publicly discuss matters relating to an ongoing police inquiry, but we are cooperating fully and will continue to do whatever we can to support the process.”
