Castle Hill Hospital: Police launch probe into 11 heart operation deaths

Police launched an investigation into the death of several patients who have undergone heart operations at Castle Hill hospital, one NHS nearby installation Hull.

The investigation follows a BBC report alleging that some patients have undergone preventable damage. The report also raises concerns that the death certificates could not reveal that surgery contributed to death.

Humberside police confirmed to the AP news agency that the investigation was at its beginnings. No arrests were made.

The documents seen by the BBC highlight the concerns concerning the care of 11 patients who have undergone an implantation of Aortic Valve Transcatheter, a procedure known as Tavi.

It is generally necessary between one and two hours and is carried out on older patients.

Tavi is used to replace the damaged valves in the heart in people with aortic stenosis, which is shrinking the aortic valve.

It is less invasive than Open heart surgery And consists in guiding a new valve towards the heart through a thin and flexible tube known as catheter through a blood vessel in the groin or the shoulder.

The concerns concerning the TAVI mortality rate of Castle Hill hospital led to a number of criticisms, none of which has been made public, according to the BBC.

THE Royal College of Doctors (RCP) was invited to assess the entire Cardiology department in 2020, including two of Tavi’s deaths.

The report was completed in 2021 and led to a second exam by the IQ4U consultants.

This recommended a third examination of the 11 deaths, which was carried out by the RCP and completed last year, suggest the reports.

A dozen deaths took place between October 2019 and March 2022 when it took place in May 2023.

The final review highlighted a poor clinical decision -making in a male patient, which included the incorrect positioning of the Tavi valve.

His death certificate also did not include a precise description of what had happened, it was reported.

There were also criticisms of the death certificates issued to two other patients, saying that crucial details were missing.

A spokesperson for NHS Humber Health Care Partnership said that the TAVI service of the hospital “retains the confidence of the Care Quality Commission (CQC)The Regional Integrated Care Council (ICB), the Royal College of Physicians and confidence ”.

They added that the three separate external journals have “shown that mortality rates associated with TAVI are similar to national mortality rates over a period of four years”.

“The Royal College report concluded that the TAVI service is essential for the Humber and North Yorkshire region and must be extended,” they added.

“However, he said that the design of the service should be revised and invested. The report offered a certain number of improvement actions and we have delivered to all those who have been shared with us.

“A key improvement was the spectacular reduction in the time that patients are waiting to have their TAVI procedure, which has been shown in the Royal College report was too long, like many other IT services across England.”

The spokesman said: “We would never discuss an individual patient case in the public domain, but we understand that families can have questions and we are happy to answer them directly.

“We have already written to families who have lost a loved one following TAVI treatment with an invitation to meet and discuss the specific circumstances of their case, and we would repeat this offer.”