Up to 250 patient deaths to be reviewed at NHS hospital

The deaths of up to 250 patients who died following heart surgery at an NHS hospital are to be reviewed.

All the patients underwent surgery at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London, between April 2013 and September 2018.

The review, commissioned by NHS Improvement, comes after the hospital suspended complex heart surgery last year to improve services.

A leaked report suggested that poor relationships between surgeons at the cardiac unit contributed to a higher mortality rate.

The panel will also review deaths between April 2017 and September 1 2018, a period during which improvements were being introduced by the trust.

The trust said families of cardiac surgery patients who died during the review period will be contacted if the panel identifies “any significant concerns about their care”.

Jacqueline Totterdell, chief executive at St George’s, said: “It is absolutely essential that patients and their families have full confidence in the care our cardiac surgery team provide – and this review of past deaths will be a key part of that process.”

The review only applies to cardiac surgery at St George’s, and does not include other associated specialities – for example, cardiology.

The panel will examine the safety and quality of care that patients who died during or after cardiac surgery at St George’s received during the review period.

They will do this by reviewing the medical records of deceased cardiac surgery patients, as well as any investigations conducted by the Trust at the time of the patients’ deaths.

The panel is likely to review between 200-250 deaths as part of this process, which will take place between six and 12 months to complete.