In late June, we started contacting patients and families whose cases had been reviewed to explain the findings into their individual cases and discuss whether any further clinical checks or treatment are needed.
For those patients and family members who have been contacted and received the outcome from their reviews, the external review process has come to a close. We will continue to keep them informed about the external review and the independent investigation, unless they have told us they don’t want any further contact by changing their contact preferences with their dedicated Patient and Family Liaison Officer.
Patients or family members who have not yet been contacted with the outcome from their case review can expect to hear from their dedicated Patient and Family Liaison Officer as soon as the review of their care is complete. We expect the completion of the entire review process to take a maximum of 12 months, and they will be contacted as soon as possible during this period.
This contact happens via telephone call from their assigned case worker in the first instance. The call is followed up with a letter to confirm what was discussed.
Please be aware that a call from a case worker might appear as an ‘unrecognised number’ on a mobile phone. If patients cannot be reached via telephone after 3 attempts, they will receive their case outcome in a letter.
We appreciate that waiting is difficult and that it can be stressful, but it’s important that we make sure the review process is carried out thoroughly. If you have any concerns during this time, please do not hesitate to contact your dedicated Patient and Family Liaison Officer.
Once the review of all the cases is complete, we will publish its findings and any recommendations.
Independent investigation into missed opportunities
We expect to receive Verita’s investigation report soon and it will be ready to share publicly before the end of October.
Verita will send the report to CUH for fact checking, and at the same time they will send a version to NHS England. After the fact checking stage, we will produce an action plan that will address the concerns raised in the investigation and detail the improvements we will implement to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.
Patients and families in scope of the external clinical review will be sent a letter which details when and where we will publish both the report and our action plan.
The full Verita report will be published on the CUH website, alongside an easy-read action plan to ensure that the next steps taken by CUH can be clearly understood.
Your named Liaison Officer will be on hand to discuss any concerns that arise from the report findings. Find details of how to contact them below.
Appointment of Olovus to lead patient and family engagement
We have appointed Olovus, an independent specialist patient and public involvement organisation, to lead engagement with patients and families affected by the care provided by Ms. Stohr.
The Trust is committed to ensuring the experiences of patients, families, and carers are central to its response. As part of this, Olovus will run a series of listening events over the coming months, beginning this autumn.
The first will take place in person on Tuesday, 30 September, from 10.30am until 2.45pm. This will be followed by an evening online session on Tuesday, 7 October, from 6pm until 8pm.
Alongside the listening events, Olovus will help establish a Patient Advisory Group and a dedicated young people’s panel, ensuring patients and families have an ongoing role in shaping future orthopaedic services.
This is the beginning of a programme of engagement activities. Even if patients, families, and carers cannot attend the first sessions, or simply wish to be kept updated, they are encouraged to register their interest and provide contact details.
Support for patients and families
We are fully focused on doing the right thing for the families affected. We know this is an incredibly distressing time, and we are here to support you.
We will continue to provide support to all affected patients and families and involve patient groups as the investigation continues.
Our Patient and Family Liaison Team is available to help.
You can reach us by:
- Phone: 0808 175 6331 (open Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm)
- Email: CUH.helpline@nhs.net
We are also working with local MPs and Healthwatch to make sure families get the help and information they need.
Once again, we are truly sorry for the impact this has had. We will continue to update this webpage with further updates on both the review and investigation every three months – or sooner, if required.