Rotherham Hospital hip op damages claims could top £2m

ROTHERHAM NHS Foundation Trust could end up paying out more than £2m for botched hip operations carried out by othopaedic surgeon Manjit Bhamra.

The Advertiser first reported last year that claims had been made against Mr Bhamra and in January it was revealed that Rotherham Hospital had settled 12 at a cost of over £1m.

Now the hospital has that it has accepted an offer to settle a 13th claim, for £11,000, before any admission or denial of liability had been made.

But the hospital has now confirmed that claims for damages have increased by 64, with another 26 likely to follow.

That could push the final bill to over £2m.

And it has been revealed this week that at least another 40 South Yorkshire patients are taking action over the use of faulty metal hip joints used by Mr Bhamra.

Some of the new claims involve Mr Bhamra’s patients at Pinderfields Hospital, where he currently works, and Goole Hospital in East Yorkshire.

Mr Bhamra, an orthopaedic surgeon, has twice been cleared to continue working following investigations by the General Medical Council. He left Rotherham Hospital in 2007 and now works at Wakefield-based Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Two referrals to the GMC by Rotherham Hospital resulted in no further action being taken.

Andrew Jackson, Mid Yorkshire’s associate medical director, said: “All medical staff that we recruit are subject to a robust recruitment process which complies with NHS guidelines and we routinely monitor the practice of all our surgeons using a range of measures.

“We currently have no cause for concern about any aspect of Mr Bhamra’s practice.”

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