Consultant's care 'potentially contributed' to three patients' premature deaths, review finds

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By Storm Newton, PA Media

A consultant who delayed access to standard treatments and deviated from clinical guidelines "potentially contributed" to the premature deaths of three patients and permanent harm to others, a review has found.

Dr Veronica Varney told her patients, who suffered from lung disorders, to avoid the flu vaccine and rapeseed oil, while she was working at St Helier Hospital in south London.

She was let go by St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group (Gesh) in 2023 and referred to the General Medical Council.

The following year the trust commissioned a review into Varney’s treatment of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD), a term for more than 200 conditions which cause progressive inflammation and fibrosis.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) investigation looked at 28 cases between 2019 and 2022.

Treating ILD requires a personalised plan by a multidisciplinary team, which the review found Varney did not engage with.