Deaths probe at top hospital

A top London teaching hospital is being investigated over the deaths of three patients following surgery, it was revealed today.

A patient safety watchdog has been called in to find out what went wrong during the operations at University College Hospital.

The sudden deaths of the two cancer patients and a woman undergoing weight-loss surgery have raised questions about risks on the operating table.

It comes months after the Government introduced measures to publish figures on surgery death rates for every hospital in the country.

UCH is part of University College London Hospitals Trust, which is one of the best performing trusts for mortality rates and is classified as "low risk".

The families of the three patients have backed a coroner's recommendation for an independent investigation and the National Patient Safety Agency has been called in.

They include relatives of Tracey Korkmaz, 41, a primary school trustee who was admitted to UCH earlier this year for stomach-shrinking surgery.

The 24-stone mother-of-three was inspired by television presenter Fern Britton who slimmed down dramatically after a weight-loss operation.

But Ms Korkmaz suffered blood poisoning and multi-organ failure when her stomach lining was accidentally perforated. Doctors operated three times to repair the lining but she died on 1 February after days in a coma.

Ms Korkmaz's mother, June Sillitoe, called for a review of clinical procedures at the hospital.

Mrs Sillitoe, 64 and from Fulham, said: "Tracey had fantastic trust in the doctors and the care was second to none, but there needs to an investigation into what went wrong.

"Tracey was told there was a one per cent mortality risk. It was only afterwards when we researched her operation on the internet, we found all these stories about what could go wrong.

"My husband was a quadriplegic and Tracey helped care for him for four years until he died. She would comfort eat because of the stress. If she'd been given counselling to get the cause of her unhappiness she would have never needed the stomach surgery."

Ms Korkmaz's daughter Ria, 12, and sons Enis, nine, and Zeren, three, are now being cared for by Mrs Sillitoe.

Another patient, retired UBS stockbroker Jack Brown, 75, died during surgery for throat cancer in May. His spleen had to be removed because of complications.

His widow, Helen, 72, of Enfield, said: "Jack was upbeat before the surgery. He had been healthy up until the diagnosis. He was very outgoing and active, loved fishing and we spent a lot of time with our grandchildren... I don't want to blame anyone, but if there are things going wrong during operations then they need to be looked at."

The third death was that of Catherine Blakey, a 44-year-old model agent from Islington who also had an operation to reduce a tumour. She suffered multiorgan failure and was transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for a liver and small bowel transplant, but died on 26 June before the operation. Her family was too upset to comment.

University College London Hospitals Trust has a mortality rate of 92, one of the lowest in London. It means there were eight per cent fewer deaths than expected for patients at the trust.

This compares with Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust which has the lowest mortality rate, at 74, while North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust has one of the highest, at 123. UCH is one of at least nine London hospitals chosen to fast-track patients into fat-loss operations to beat the obesity crisis.

A trust spokesman said its surgeons practice to a very high standard, and that many were recruited from around the world for their expertise. He added: "Surgery is a potentially dangerous activity and UCLH carried out a high percentage of complicated cases due to the specialist nature of its services. The three cases recently heard by the coroner will be considered by the trust's quality and safety committee and kept under continuous review.'

The NPSA confirmed that its experts were now looking into the events that led up to the deaths at UCH.