Mark Norman / BBCA police investigation into allegations of preventable deaths and injuries at an NHS trust has doubled the number of cases it is looking at, BBC News can reveal.The claims centre on care and treatment provided by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust between 2015 and 2021.Sussex Police started looking in 2023 into an initial 105 cases, but BBC File On 4 Investigates has learned that number is now more than 200.The force says the investigation is “active and ongoing”, but it will “not be providing specific details around case numbers at this time”.Police became involved after two whistleblowers raised allegations of medical negligence at two of the trust’s departments – neurosurgery and general surgery, including concerns about at least 40 deaths.The increase in cases is linked to more families having contacted the police.Separate to this investigation, we have spoken to the family of a patient who allege they were “lied” to by a senior surgeon in the trust’s general surgery department, before he carried out an operation that left her with life-threatening injuries.Wendy Gibbs, 80, had been due to be operated on by Marc Lamah to repair a pelvic prolapse at a private hospital in Brighton, run by Nuffield Health. But the surgeon told her he wanted to switch the procedure to a different Nuffield hospital because the Brighton site didn’t have a specific type of scanner that he would need. The machine, it turned out, was also not available at the second hospital.Mr Lamah also failed to disclose to Mrs Gibbs that he, and other surgeons, were prevented from carrying out such operations in Brighton at the time, as Nuffield Health had suspended that type of surgery over safety concerns.When Mrs Gibbs’ operation happened in March 2024, Mr Lamah mistakenly snipped her bowel, causing internal bleeding not spotted for hours. Mrs Gibbs developed sepsis, a life-threatening condition.She needed an emergency second operation – also carried out by Mr Lamah – at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, which is part of the NHS trust under investigation. This was followed by a spell in intensive care and 11 days’ sedation.Mrs Gibbs, who now has a permanent stoma bag, says she was traumatised by the experience. “He failed me, he betrayed my trust. I’ve got numerous issues left from the operation. Most of my hair fell out. My nails fell off. It’s coming back now, but the trauma of it actually happening and not being able to do anything about it – it’s not easy.”Wendy Gibbs’s case is not part of the police investigation as her treatment occurred after the period the …
