ARRESTED OVER TWO PATIENT DEATHS

Peterborough City Hospital anaesthetist strenuously denies claims he ‘inappropriately hastened the death of patients in his care’

A doctor at Peterborough City Hospital has been arrested over two patient deaths.

Dr Andy Gregg (48) was arrested on suspicion of gross negligent manslaughter last March and is currently on police bail.

The consultant anaesthetist, who has been suspended from practising, is being investigated over allegations he “inappropriately hastened the death of patients in his care.”

He is also the subject of an investigation by the General Medical Council - which has suspended his registration to practice - of at least 16 cases.

Dr Gregg strenuously denies the allegations.

Details of his arrest and the allegations have only come to light now due to a recent High Court ruling.

The court ruled the trust, which runs the hospital, cannot stop paying him and cannot continue with its own disciplinary procedures into the deaths of both patients before the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decides whether to charge Dr Gregg in connection with the deaths.

Dr Kanchan Rege, medical director at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough City Hospital, said the trust was deciding whether to appeal the High Court ruling.

She added: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment any further as the police investigation is ongoing.”

Dr Gregg has been employed at the hospital since September 2003. On January 4, 2016, a 41-year-old man with acute myeloid leukaemia, who Dr Gregg was the consultant for, died two hours after receiving increased dosages for sedative and a pain-killer.

Police later handed over the case to the CPS which was of the view that it “did not cross the necessary threshold to charge Dr Gregg,” the High Court said.

The trust also become aware of a second patient who had suffered a serious heart attack in 2013 and died less than five hours after being passed into Dr Gregg’s care, according to the High Court.

Dr Gregg was arrested over the second patient in March 2017. He is currently on police bail until June.