Senior doctors fear speaking up at hospital under patient safety investigation

Getty/Nigel A Messenger

By Emma Wilkinson

Senior doctors taking part in a “listening exercise” at a leading hospital have said they feared raising patient safety concerns because of repercussions to their career or that nothing would be done.

Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge carried out the survey after an ongoing review into an orthopaedic surgeon accused of harming children over a 10-year period.

An independent report published last year found there had been 32 missed chances to identify and avoid possible harm to patients under the care of Ms Kuldeep Stohr.

It found that concerns were raised about her practice from another consultant in 2015 and the trust did not appropriately act on an external review of her practice the year after.

Colleagues at the hospital run by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) raised concerns with the medical director’s office about surgical outcomes for patients she had operated on in 2024 after she took a leave of absence.