Delay to surgeon review angers families

Families waiting years for answers about why their children were harmed at a major hospital say they are angry about delays to the findings of an independent review.

Orthopaedic surgeon Kuldeep Stohr was suspended by Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge in early 2025 over concerns that surgeries were "below the expected standard".

The review into the operations was due at the end of the year, but will now be published in early 2027. The trust said it had apologised to families and patients for the delay.

"It is absolutely devastating news," said Natasha Egan-Ronayne, whose daughter Neave was left with life-altering injuries.

"We've been through so much as a family, and we agreed to take part in this review with promises of swift action that hasn't happened."

A Verita report, commissioned by Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Trust, found "a series of missed opportunities" to act on warnings. The trust accepted the findings and apologised, adding that changes were under way.

Meanwhile, a separate independent review examining hundreds of planned and emergency operations involving Stohr, some of which were for adults, was also commissioned, chaired by Andrew Kennedy KC.

This was due to be published at the end of the year.

"It's a lack of trust; when you are told that you are going to be given answers time and time again, and then there is a failure to do so, how [is the hospital] supposed to be trusted?" said Egan-Ronayne.

"We've been living with the trauma for such a long time."

Neave, 19, who was born with positional talipes, a condition causing inward-turning feet, was 11 when she had surgery intended to improve her mobility.

Since the surgery, she can no longer walk, has severe muscle spasms in her leg, dribbles, is classified as non-verbal and has to use a communication device, her mother said.

Egan-Ronayne added: "She is my hero; she handled this with such grace and fortitude. I have so much respect for my daughter."

Lynn Harrison said her daughter Tammy, now aged 14, has been left "absolutely petrified of Addenbrooke's" after her surgery.

It left her with one leg shorter than the other, needing corrective surgery, feeling "mentally scarred" and dealing with "lost mobility".

Harrison described waiting for the report as "like a grey cloud over all our heads", so was bitterly disappointed at news of its delay.

Tammy, who has cerebral palsy, agreed, saying: "I think the sooner it comes out the better because everyone should know; maybe this report can help and get closure on it all."

Harrison added: "We want this over with; we want to be able to move on with our lives and live some form of normality and put this behind us, and they're just prolonging our pain.

"If they'd done their job properly, and a thorough job in the first place, we wouldn't be here."

A CUH spokesperson said Kennedy had advised the trust that his report was now due early next year, adding the timeline was "unfortunately beyond our control".

They added: "We are sorry this is later than originally expected. We know patients and families have already waited a long time for this report, and we recognise the impact of this further delay.

"We have written to affected patients and families to update them and apologise."

It will provide the latest information about the timetable for Kennedy's report and its publication in November.

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