Halt to spinal operations at Cheshire hospital

Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has suspended spinal operations following four ‘serious incidents’, two of which involved the death of a patient.

The Royal College of Surgeons will now conduct an external investigation into surgical practice, only after which spinal operations may resume.

Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust currently carries out 1,600 spinal procedures every year.

Simon Constable, deputy chief executive, said: “We have made the decision to temporarily suspend our spinal surgery at Warrington and Halton Hospitals following the identification of four serious incidents; involving spinal surgery patients over a six month period. Sadly, two of these incidents were patient deaths, early indications suggest these were related to medical complications and not the surgery itself, but these cases are now subject to the external review. Although these incidents appear very different from each other, as a precautionary measure, the Trust, working with our commissioners and regulators, has temporarily stopped doing spinal procedures, until a full external review has been undertaken.

“The trust and commissioners have invited The Royal College of Surgeons to undertake a comprehensive review of our current spinal services at the beginning of November; this will help inform any appropriate actions or decisions regarding the future service provision. We understand that this may cause concern for patients on our waiting list or being referred in to our services and we sincerely apologise for this. Patient safety and welfare is our priority and we are in the process of contacting all patients awaiting spinal surgery at Warrington and Halton Hospitals to advise them of the options available to them. We will do our best to support patients at this time.”