Botched surgery patient feels 'in the dark'

A woman whose knee was operated on by a surgeon who has since been suspended says the worst part is "being in the dark about it all".

Kuldeep Stohr was suspended earlier this year from her role at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge amid concerns about care that was "below the expected standard".

Chloe Humphries, 25, of Newmarket, Suffolk, had the surgery at the age of 15 in 2015. She said she first learned about the suspension after her mother heard news reports.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) has apologised to patients and says it wants to provide support at this "distressing and anxious time for many".

Ms Stohr, an orthopaedic surgeon who specialised in paediatrics, previously said she was fully co-operating with an investigation.

One of the 700 patient cases under review is that of a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who was left in agony after botched surgery on her hip.

Ms Humphries has hypermobility and issues with her left kneecap, which has led to multiple painful dislocations - as often as twice a week - since 2013.

She said hearing news of the suspension through news reports felt "almost like a betrayal" by the hospital.

In April, an NHS family liaison worker called her to say her case was being reviewed. She has since been told it is "going to take about a year".

"It's making me feel sick because I don't know what's going on [with the knee] at the moment," she said.

"I thought the grinding noise and the fact I can't feel my leg and that I can't walk up stairs for long without getting pain, I thought that was normal - now it's making me really think, 'Oh my God, it's not'."

The University of Brighton psychology and criminology student said her first surgery by Ms Stohr was "a left patella MPFL reconstruction and hamstring repair".

She went back for follow-up surgery in 2018 after "we found out that there was a bit of bone that was left in there", which the surgeon removed.

Ms Humphries said she would like to know "what's happened, why they did what they did".

"Being in the dark about it all, that's the worst bit," she added.

CUH chief medical officer Dr Susan Broster said the hospital had put in place "a comprehensive external clinical review comprising several experienced paediatric orthopaedic surgeons from other trusts chaired by Andrew Kennedy KC".

"Separately, an external and independent investigation has been launched into how we as a trust handled concerns that were raised previously and whether the right actions were taken," she said, which would take time to complete.

"To support patients, we have a dedicated patient and family liaison team and every patient has a named case worker to support them.

"We apologise again to patients and we want to do everything we can to support them at what we know is distressing and anxious time for many."

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