A surgeon, labeled a bully, is being re-evaluated after his “unacceptable and unjustifiable” actions resulted in the death of a 17-year-old patient.
Surgeon John Bradley Williamson, former president of the British Scoliosis Society, is also accused of leading a ‘toxic’ team with ‘absolute power’ and of concealing mistakes over his relationship with a nurse.
According to a report commissioned by the NHS, the 65-year-old was found to be ‘directly contributing’ to Catherine O’Connor’s death in February 2007.
Catherine was wheelchair-bound because she was born with spina bifida, a twisted spine, but she was looking forward to surgery to correct it, The Sunday Times reported.
On the day of her surgery, the 17-year-old handed her mother her favorite rag doll and told her to take it home as she had to be an adult for the surgery.
Hours later, she died on the operating table at Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester after catastrophic blood loss.
He was suspended in 2014 and fired in 2015 for inappropriate behavior towards a female staff member, not for clinical reasons, which left staff behind in the hospital, alleging that managers had not done enough to investigate the alleged harm to patients.
The General Medical Council said Williamson was still registered with a license to practice and was not being investigated.
He continues to see patients privately, although he no longer performs surgeries and charges £350 an hour as an expert witness.
But only now has a report commissioned by the NHS – the current Patient Safety Look Back Review – concluded Williamson’s actions, including not having a second consulting surgeon or having enough blood, ‘directly contributed’ to Catherine O’s death. connor.
Catherine’s case is one of more than 100 Williamsons being investigated by the Salford Royal Hospital in the review, following whistleblowers’ allegations of a manager cover-up.
Orthopedic surgeon John Bradley Williamson was found to have “directly contributed” to Catherine O’Connor’s death in 2007 when he operated on her.
Catherine O’Connor died of catastrophic blood loss, aged just 17 after spinal surgery by John Bradley Williamson
Williamson specialized in surgery to treat scoliosis, a condition in which the spine twists and bends to the side.
According to an internal list prepared by clinicians as far back as 2014, his patients are described as being paralyzed or in severe pain from misplaced spinal screws and others being rushed back to the theater for life-saving surgery.
Leaked minutes from The Sunday Times of December 2021 show that his colleague described him as “clinically incompetent” and a “dictatorial bully”, who ran his ward with “absolute power” because he had a relationship with the ward’s nurse manager.
Employees also claimed that bug reports had “disappeared, disappeared or been degraded,” while other employees were threatened when they raised their concerns.
A fellow surgeon claimed Williamson left surgery to catch a flight that departed before the patient left the operating table, according to the minutes.
In 2014, the list of allegedly injured patients was handed over to managers, but staff claim it has not led to any action.
Obviously, a 2016 investigation was shut down by the regulator due to a lack of evidence and uncooperative witnesses.
Speaking to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity, a senior clinician said: ‘As clinicians we have tried hard within the hospital to bring this to light, but it has been a very slow and painful process. I think the trust has lied to patients and there has been a cover-up.
“Catherine O’Connor’s family was told their daughter wasn’t strong enough for the surgery, but that just wasn’t true. There may be patients with complications who don’t know it’s a result of their surgery.
‘There must be a full recall from patients, that’s what we’ve been calling for for a long time. Not only patients at Salford Royal, but also the children’s hospital in Manchester where he also operated.
“There should be a fully independent inquiry into how this has been handled by the trust over the years since the concern was first raised and why it was never addressed.”
Catherine’s mother Ursula and her husband Bill, who died in 2018, doubted what had happened to their daughter, but never knew they weren’t the only family with concerns.
O’Connor, 71, from Atherton, near Manchester, said during the inquest that year that she was told she died because she couldn’t handle the blood loss.
“We were never told that a second surgeon should have come,” she said.
John Bradley Williamson led a team of 30 surgeons at Salford Royal Hospital with ‘absolute strength’, according to a colleague
In the new report on her death, commissioned by the hospital, Lee Breakwell, a consulting surgeon at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, said Williamson showed “a disregard for the complexity of the case” by going ahead with the eight-hour surgery. without enough blood or key equipment pre-ordered is shown.
His report added: ‘Unfortunately, a large number of the related imperfections relate to [Williamson’s] planning and behavior.’
At one point, Williamson left the operating room for an hour before being recalled because Catherine went into cardiac arrest due to massive blood loss.
The report concluded: ‘Lack of a second surgeon, expressly against the advice of the [multidisciplinary team], is unacceptable and unjustifiable. The decision to employ only an orthopedic registrar, I believe, contributed directly to the patient’s death due to an inevitably slower operation.”
Breakwell also emphasized that Williamson attended the postmortem examination. While not uncommon, it raises some concern about whether any influence was exerted on the report.
Catherine’s mother said, “I feel very sad to think that we have loved and protected her all these years and that we could not protect her on that last day.”
She said she admires the whistleblowers for “making sure the truth got out,” but says she “should have been told this review was going on.”
Regarding O’Connor’s death, Williamson said, “I always strive to provide the very best care for my patients. Due to patient confidentiality, I cannot comment on specific patient care, but I have not been made aware of any allegations of inappropriate care since the surgery in 2007.”
Another patient, Ellie, aged 17, from Cheadle Hulme, consented to surgery by Williamson.
During the surgery, three misplaced screws severed major blood vessels, an internal trust investigation found, leading to a “massive hemothorax,” or bleeding in her chest.
A total of 2.5 liters of blood was drained from her chest. The weight of this blood collapsed one of her lungs, rendering her unable to breathe. In total, she needed 13 units of blood during and after surgery.
A report found that the three misplaced screws were “clearly visible during surgery,” adding: “The X-rays taken during surgery clearly show this, and therefore the cause is a surgeon’s error.”
Williamson joined Salford Royal Hospital and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in 1996, leading a team of 30 surgeons as head of department, handling 10,000 referrals and 2,000 complex surgeries a year.
Employees who worked with him claimed that in 2014, after an anonymous letter, a dozen cases of claims were collected and shared with managers.
The trust, led by Sir David Dalton, asked the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) to review the department.
The December 2015 report highlighted concerns about incident management led by a previous surgeon. It also concluded that the service was safe.
The RCS said four “never happen” errors were associated with this one surgeon, who it claims caused “confrontational” meetings, was “dictatorial” and created a “divide and rule mentality” between clinicians and managers.
Several sources confirmed to the Sunday Times that the surgeon was Williamson.
In 2021, employees raised concerns with Owen Williams, the new chief executive.
Williams was told it was “public knowledge” that Williamson was reportedly incapable of performing complex surgeries.
The trust engaged Breakwell and Carlo Breen, a lawyer, to review patients operated on by Williamson between January 2009 and August 2014.
Other patients concerned about their care have also been included, bringing the total to more than 100.
Speaking about the spinal patient safety review, the Northern Care Alliance said: ‘We assure patients that this review only covers a few patients who have had spinal surgery performed by this consultant surgeon. This surgeon has not worked for the Trust since 2015.
“Patients should be assured that if problems with their care or treatment are identified, they will be contacted by our organization.
‘A patient may then be asked to make an appointment at the clinic with one of our spinal cord surgeons. This may be to discuss medical history, previous spinal surgery, progress since spinal surgery (even if it was some time ago), and current condition. This will help determine if anything needs to be done.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience or concern patients may have experienced and we hope this information provides patients with some reassurance. We emphasize that any patient concerned about their previous spinal surgery or treatment will be contacted by the Trust.”
Dr Chris Brookes, chief medical officer at the trust, confirmed the assessment to The Sunday Times, adding: ‘We have begun this assessment after listening to the concerns of staff who wanted assurance that the trust had done everything possible. made to ensure that we had examined thoroughly and ensured that no patients were left.
“This may lead us to re-invite a number of patients who have previously had spinal surgery by this surgeon for an appointment.”