Family's anger as hospital unit where father died after surgery mix-up investigated

The family of a man who died waiting for life-saving brain surgery at one of the country's leading hospitals say they're "furious" the department which treated him is now under rapid investigation.

John Brackenbury died in 2016 after doctors at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge prioritised another patient for treatment.

Despite several recommendations being made after John's death, whistleblowers at the hospital have told Sky News that changes didn't happen.

Mr Brackenbury's daughter, Jenny Dunk, said it's "despicable" that lessons weren't learnt from his death.

"Nobody cared, nobody saw dad as a human being, you know, they're all about kind of looking after themselves and their own egos and protecting each other," Jenny said.

John was admitted to Addenbrooke's in November 2016 after suffering a brain haemorrhage, which needed treatment within 48 hours.

But clinicians unexpectedly chose to operate on a different patient.

"We were told that there was an unfortunate sequence of events and they took the wrong person. They took an 85-year-old Mrs B instead of a 70-year-old Mr B," John's widow Jean explained.

John's operation was delayed until the following day, but he died overnight.

His daughter Jenny said: "He was just left in a bed, nil-by-mouth, and abandoned."

His widow describes John's treatment as "completely cruel".

"There didn't seem to be any communication whatsoever between the surgical staff and the ward staff," Jean said.

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Source: Sky News, 14 March 2026