The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a reprimand to a local authority in respect of a breach of Article 5(1)(f) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation. The local authority had included a spreadsheet in its response to a Freedom of...
There have been calls for an independent inquiry into the conduct of Mr Derek McMinn a well-known pioneering hip surgeon who practiced at the BMI Edgbaston Hospital.
Shockingly, Mr McMinn, who famously operated on sportsman Andy Murray, is alleged to have simultaneously operated on patients, who had been given dangerous doses of sedatives, ultimately putting profit over patient safety.
A separate review has also made the gruesome discovery that Mr McMinn had kept over 5,000 bone samples from his patients without consent, breaching legal and ethical guidelines.
In order to carry out these simultaneous surgeries, Mr McMinn was assisted by anaesthetists Dr Imran Ahmed and Dr Gauhar Sharish. As it stands both anaesthetists continue to practice under the Dudley Group Foundation Trust and University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust respectively.
An independent report by an expert anaesthetist provides many examples of dangerous surgical behaviour, including one patient being placed under anaesthesia for over one and a half hours when the recommended guideline was 30 minutes. The report also alleges Mr McMinn left one anaesthetised patient for almost an hour and a half after partially completing their surgery to begin operating on another patient.
Prolonged exposure to anaesthesia can cause a patient’s blood pressure to drop to dangerous levels, resulting in their organs being starved of oxygen. This can cause organ failure and brain damage, which can have profound and catastrophic consequences.
The report recommends the hospital contact Mr McMinn’s patients to see if any have suffered brain injury or organ damage as a result of his practices.
In response to the allegations, Circle Health Group, who took over BMI Healthcare earlier this year, have confirmed: “BMI Healthcare is now under new management and we take these issues incredibly seriously. We only acquired the hospital in June, but will leave no stone unturned in investigating these historic issues relating to Derek McMinn. We have commissioned an independent expert to review the issues raised on anaesthetic practice: they have all been reported to the appropriate authorities and we will cooperate closely with regulators to resolve them”.
If you have been affected by the actions of Drs McMinn, Ahmed and Sharish, or suspect you have been the victim of negligent sedation, please contact our specialist clinical negligence solicitors on 0121 355 0011 for a free, no-obligation consultation.
Comments