Probe over spine surgery deaths

A HOSPITAL yesterday cancelled all spinal surgery after two patients in six months died from complications.

Warrington and Halton NHS Foundation Trust said it was stopping the procedures until an external review by the Royal College of Surgeons was complete.

The Cheshire trust’s spinal services saw four serious incidents from March to August. The cases, the first since 2013, included two of nerve damage and involved different surgeons and procedures. Medical director Professor Simon Constable said the cancellations, affecting 240 patients, were ‘precautionary’ and early indications suggested the incidents were ‘related to medical complications’. But he told the BBC: ‘We need to be clear whether we’ve done harm in doing something, or not doing something, in the way we should have done.’