In October 2025, we published Verita’s independent investigation report into what was known when about the practice of Ms Stohr and whether there were opportunities to have identified and addressed these issues sooner.
To accompany this, we published our action plan ‘Learning, accountability and change’, which details how we will address the recommendations identified within the report and implement the necessary improvements across our Trust.
We apologise unreservedly to the patients and families affected by this incident. Through our action plan, we are committed to delivering Verita’s recommendations in full. We recognise that this is a critical first step in regaining the trust of our patients.
As part of our commitment to transparency and accountability, we are publishing this six-month update on the progress we have made against the commitments in the plan. We have continued to make positive progress and have delivered the further 13 commitments we aimed to complete by May 2026.
Below, we set out what we have delivered and, importantly, what these changes mean for patients and families.
The final actions set out in the ‘Learning, accountability and change’ action plan are due for completion in October 2026.
Improvements to patient care
We want to share the below update on the steps we are also taking to improve patient safety and care across the hospital and within individual services.
Trauma and Orthopaedics
Our children’s and adults’ Trauma and Orthopaedics teams are continuing to make improvements to the care patients and families receive.
These improvements are based on what patients and families have told us, as well as learning from independent clinical reviews.
- A detailed review has been carried out looking at how children’s pain is managed after orthopaedic surgery. Learning from this review is being used to improve how pain is assessed, monitored and treated.
- The Trust is also introducing wider real-time monitoring of pain management across paediatric services so that any issues can be identified and addressed more quickly.
- A review is underway to improve care for children with neurodisabilities, helping orthopaedic, neurology and community paediatric teams work more closely together and improve coordination of care.
- The Pavlik harness information leaflet has been updated following feedback from families.
- We are putting in place the recommendations from the MDT (multi-disciplinary team) review, including a new system to clearly record discussions between different healthcare professionals in each patient’s record.
Our commitment
We know there is more to do. Improving care, rebuilding trust and making sure changes are fully embedded across the organisation will take time and continued effort.
We are committed to listening to patients and families, learning from feedback, and making lasting improvements to the quality and safety of the care we provide.
Patient Advisory Board (PAB)
Catherine Kimberley, Chair of the Patient Advisory Board, has shared an update as part of this work.
The Board meets every month, with meetings held either in person or online.
The next meeting will take place on:
- Wednesday 10 June – 10am-11.30am (online)
If you are interested in joining the Patient Advisory Board (PAB) or have any questions, please contact:
cuh.familyliaison@nhs.net
We remain committed to supporting the Patient Advisory Board and hearing from patients and families.
Find out more about the Patient Advisory Board and how to join.
Listening event for children and young people (NYAS)
If you are a parent of a child under 16 who is involved in this review, you will have received an invitation to a listening event for children and young people supported by the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS).
NYAS are offering two short online information sessions:
- Tuesday 2 June, 6:00–6:30pm
- Wednesday 3 June, 2:00–2:30pm
Following these sessions, an in-person listening event will be held on:
- Saturday 13 June
- 10:00am to 2:00pm
- Meadows Community Centre, Cambridge
This interactive event will use creative activities such as play and graffiti-style art to help children and young people share their thoughts, feelings and experiences.
Families can register with NYAS using the details provided in their invitation.
Oversight of the improvements we are making
To make sure the delivery of our action plan has oversight from our partners, we report progress to the dedicated Oversight Board, which includes representatives from NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, Healthwatch, GMC and the Integrated Care Board alongside CUH Executive and Non-Executive Directors. We will continue to do this as we progress.
Ongoing support for patients and families
We recognise the impact the incident, the publication of the Verita report and the ongoing clinical reviews may have on affected patients and families. Our dedicated Patient and Family Liaison team remains on hand to support you and answer any questions you might have:
- Opening hours: Monday – Friday between 9am - 4pm
- By phone: 07719 407 210
- By email: cuh.familyliaison@nhs.net
Psychological support provided by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is available for patients and families should you need it. If you would like an appointment, please email paediatricOrthopaedicreferrals@cpft.nhs.uk or contact the Patient and Family Liaison team who can help.