7 hours agoShareSaveMichael BuchananSocial affairs correspondent, BBC NewsShareSaveBBCPolice have launched an investigation into the deaths of patients following heart operations at an NHS hospital, the BBC has learned.Documents seen by us suggest patients suffered avoidable harm – and that in some cases their death certificates failed to disclose that the procedure contributed to their deaths.One woman’s operation at Castle Hill Hospital near Hull – that should have taken no more than two hours – has been described as a “disaster” by one medic.She spent six hours in surgery and lost five litres of blood – all while under local anesthetic.But none of this was mentioned on her death certificate, which recorded her as dying from pneumonia. Her family were also not told what had happened.The NHS body that runs Castle Hill, the Humber Health Care Partnership, told the BBC it had delivered improvements suggested by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). In a statement, it said it was happy to directly answer any questions from the patients’ families.Humberside Police said an investigation was “in the very early stages” and no arrests had been made.’Very concerned about safety’The documents raise concerns about the care that 11 patients received during a TAVI – Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implant – a procedure to replace a damaged valve in the heart, similar to adding a stent.The department’s TAVI mortality rate at the time was three times higher than the UK average, something patients and families were also unaware of.Staff concerns within the hospital led managers to commission several reviews – but none was made public. In 2020, the RCP was asked to assess the whole cardiology department, in which the TAVI team was operating, including two of the TAVI deaths.That report, completed in 2021, led to a second review conducted by consultants IQ4U, which recommended a third review of all 11 deaths, which was also conducted by the Royal College and completed in early 2024.The BBC has been passed copies of all three inquiries. The patients’ families only found out they had taken place when we contacted them.Also in 2021, seven cardiac consultants wrote they were “very concerned about the safety and transparency of the TAVI service” in a letter to the hospital’s chief executive. It followed the deaths, in less than six months, of four of the 11 patients.Used instead of open-heart surgery, the TAVI procedure involves inserting a new valve via a catheter through a blood vessel, often in the groin. The catheter guides the new valve to the heart and replaces the damaged one.The procedure, which typically lasts between one and two hours, is usually carried out under local anaesthetic and is mainly performed on older patients.Dorothy Readhead, from Driffield, went to Castle Hill to undergo a TAVI in summer 2020. The 87-year-old, an active member of her local church and a keen gardener, had been suffering bouts of breathlessness which doctors had blamed on a heart condition.Deemed not suitable for open-heart surgery, Mrs Readhead was keen to take up the option of the less-invasive procedure. “She thought it would give her a [better] quality of life,” says her daughter, Christine Rymer.But the operation went wrong.The care Mrs Readhead received formed part of both RCP reviews carried out on behalf of the hospital trust.Pre-op checks had indicated Mrs Readhead’s left side was to be used fo …
