healthmedicinet

11 December 2013
Last updated at 08:50 ET

Prof David Paul Berry was suspended in January

The health minister has defended hospital procedures after a specialist surgeon was suspended following the deaths of patients who had undergone liver surgery.

Prof David Paul Berry has been suspended from the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff since January.

Eight patient deaths were “avoidable”, said a review for the health board.

Mark Drakeford said the systems in place in Wales provided “early warning signals” if things went wrong.

He said: “At the moment, I am satisfied that those different strands are operating in an effective way and that we don’t need to go beyond that.

“Where things arise where I do feel there is a need for an independent outside look at what is going on in order to provide public assurance, then I will do that.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams is to ask an urgent question on the deaths the Senedd.

Earlier, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board’s medical director Dr Graham Shortland said an internal audit had highlighted concern and they had taken steps to “ensure the public are safe”.

BBC Wales discovered on Tuesday that Prof Berry had been suspended at the start of the year.

It has since emerged he was suspended at the same time from Spire Cardiff Hospital where he had a private practice.

Prof Berry, who moved to work in south Wales from the Leicester area, was originally stopped from carrying out complex surgery in October 2012 following concerns about the outcomes of some liver patients in his care.

An initial internal investigation confirmed the health board’s concerns and he was fully suspended from duties in January this year.

‘Problem’

Two further independent reviews by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) followed.

Mark Drakeford told BBC Wales the system was operating effectively

The second RCS review, of the individual care of 31 patients who underwent complex liver surgery by the surgeon, found that 10 later died and eight of those 10 deaths were avoidable.

The health board’s medical director told BBC Wales’ Good Morning Wales programme: “This is about complex liver surgery and not about other surgery that was performed.”

Dr Shortland added that an initial independent review showed “this was not a service problem this was a problem with an individual surgeon”.

When asked why had the matter only just come to the wider public’s attention, Dr Shortland said: “We felt it was very important to have a discussion with those families affected and we would have made sure this was taken into the public domain at an appropriate time.

‘Distressing time’

“Our duty was to inform those families first.”

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Case study: Martyn Rogers

Martyn Rogers, 66, died of blood poisoning and acute liver failure on 25 July 2012, a week after David Berry removed tumours from his liver at the University Hospital of Wales.

Three days after the procedure, his organs began to fail and one his major veins had been damaged.

After his death, the Royal College of Surgeons commissioned a report which found the surgery showed evidence of “poor judgement” and “technical errors” which reflected “poor operative skills”.

It concluded Mr Rogers’s death was “avoidable”.

His partner of 40 years, Maria Davies, has instructed solicitors Irwin Mitchell to investigate further.

Ms Davies, from Newport, said her partner was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2010 and were led to believe removing the tumours would prolong his life.

“To learn that Martyn’s death could have been avoided is very difficult to comprehend and has left me feeling angry,” she said.

She said she wanted to know why his treatment was not better, and whether other patients had been affected.

The health board has issued “unreserved apologies” to every family affected.

Stephen Allen, chief officer of patient watchdog Cardiff and Vale Community Health Council, said: “It’s a distressing time for the families concerned and we can’t imagine what they are going through.”

Maria Davies’s partner Martyn Rogers, from Newport, died after undergoing treatment last year and she has instructed lawyers to investigate further.

Solicitor Emma Rush said Ms Davies had “inklings” something was amiss and this was confirmed by the RCS review.

“As far as Maria is concerned losing a loved one is horrific in any situation.

“But when you then subsequently find out that you’ve lost that loved one and the death was avoidable, I can’t even begin to imagine how that makes Maria feel.

“Clearly she is devastated,” Ms Rush added.

A helpline for anyone who is concerned about the surgical care they received at the hospital in relation to liver surgery between February 2011 and October 2012 has been set up.

The helpline number is 0800 952 0244 and will be open from noon to 20:00 GMT every day from Wednesday, December 11 to Friday, December 13.