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Police have launched an investigation into the deaths of several patients who underwent heart operations at Castle Hill Hospital, an NHS facility near Hull.
The inquiry follows a BBC report alleging that some patients suffered avoidable harm. The report also raises concerns that death certificates may have failed to disclose that surgery contributed to the deaths.
Humberside Police confirmed to the PA news agency that the investigation is in its early stages. No arrests have been made.
Documents seen by the BBC highlight concerns regarding the care of 11 patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation, a procedure known as Tavi.
It usually takes between one and two hours and is performed on older patients.
Tavi is used to replace damaged valves in the heart in people with aortic stenosis, which causes the aortic valve to narrow.
It is less invasive than open heart surgery and involves guiding a new valve to the heart through a thin, flexible tube known as a catheter through a blood vessel in the groin or shoulder.
Concerns about Castle Hill Hospital’s Tavi mortality rate led to a number of reviews, none of which were made public, according to the BBC.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) was asked to assess the whole cardiology department in 2020, including two of the Tavi deaths.
The report was completed in 2021 and led to a second review by consultants IQ4U.
This recommended a third review of all 11 deaths, which was carried out by the RCP and completed last year, reports suggest.
Some 10 deaths happened between October 2019 and March 2022 while one took place in May 2023.
The final review highlighted poor clinical decision-making in one male patient, which included the incorrect positioning of the Tavi valve.
His death certificate also failed to include an accurate description of what had happened, it was reported.
There were also criticisms of death certificates issued to two other patients, claiming crucial details were missing.
A spokesperson for NHS Humber Health Care Partnership said the hospital’s Tavi service “retains the confidence of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the regional Integrated Care Board (ICB), the Royal College of Physicians, and the trust”.
They added that the three separate external reviews have “shown that mortality rates associated with Tavi are similar to national mortality rates over a four-year period”.
“The Royal College report concluded that the Tavi service is essential for the Humber and North Yorkshire region and needs to be expanded,” they added.
“It stated however that the design of the service should be reviewed and invested in. The report offered a number of actions for improvement and we have delivered against all of those since it was shared with us.
“A key improvement has been the dramatic reduction in the length of time patients wait to have their Tavi procedure, which was shown in the Royal College report to have been too long, like many other T I services across England.”
The spokesperson said: “We would never discuss an individual patient case in the public domain but we understand families may have questions and we are happy to answer those directly.
“We have previously written to families who have lost a loved one following Tavi treatment with an invitation to meet and discuss the specific circumstances of their case, and we would reiterate that offer.”
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