Surgeon claims Bath's RUH 'covered up' patient blinding

A surgeon sacked by a hospital after raising safety concerns has accused the trust of a cover-up after a patient was partially blinded during an operation.

Juanita Graham, 41, lost the sight in her left eye during an operation at Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH) in 2019. She is now suing the trust.

Serryth Colbert said he was put down as the lead author on an investigation into the incident, but said he "did not write a word" of it.

Mr Colbert has described the hospital investigation into Mrs Graham's operation as "deeply flawed".

The surgeon, who specialises in the head, neck, face and jaw, has made several serious allegations about patient safety at the RUH, and believes these claims led to him being regarded as a troublemaker and dismissed in October 2023.

Mrs Graham, from Trowbridge, said she was still traumatised by the operation on her eye.

"I remember coming round, seeing the time and felt like a gush and I couldn't see," she said.

"The next time I remember waking up again, I thought it was my partner but it was a surgeon and he was crying. I said 'what's gone wrong?'".

After the operation, a Root Cause Analyses (RCA) report produced by the trust said the hospital was not to blame, although it did say the risks could have been explained more clearly to Mrs Graham.

Mr Colbert, whose name was added as the lead investigator, said his only involvement in the report was when he was called on the phone by a nurse, who he said did the RCA, to explain what the operation involved.

The 48-year-old surgeon said: "I have been put down here to my amazement as the lead author on this.

"That is not correct. I did not write a word of this.

"The conclusion is the root cause of the complication was down to a bit of paperwork which could have been performed a bit better.

"The root cause was not down to paperwork. It was all covered up... that was indefensible."

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Source: BBC News, 29 February 2024