Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust published on 29 February 2024 the findings of its Spinal Safety Look Back Review into historic treatment provided by a single Consultant Spinal Surgeon at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH) and its predecessor organisations.
A report following the work of the Spinal Surgery Independent Patient Safety Investigation (IPSI), chaired by Dr Yvette Oade CBE, was published on 28 May, 2026. You can read the report on the NHS England North West website.
Commenting on the IPSI report, Dr Sohail Munshi, Joint Chief Medical Officer for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“We fully accept the IPSI findings, and we want to repeat the sincere apologies we have previously offered to patients and their families who were impacted when care fell short of the high standards which we expect.
“We will carefully consider this report and reflect on any further learning which it identifies. This will support our ongoing work to strengthen the safety and effectiveness of all our services.
“As we said when publishing our Spinal Safety Look Back Review in February 2024, we have engaged with patients and families who were involved throughout our review process, offering support, clinical assessment and treatment when needed. Any former patient, or their family, who still has concerns about treatment by the surgeon should contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service team.”
The MFT PALS team can be reached at PALS@MFT.nhs.uk.
RMCH Spinal Safety Look Back Review
Our review, published on 29 February 2024, covered the surgeon’s activity from 2006 to 2011, after which time the surgeon left RMCH. Independent clinical experts were commissioned to look back at case notes, X-rays and other investigations. Patient clinical assessments have been offered and undertaken where appropriate.
We also published our response, which identifies the learning we have taken from this Look Back Review. Much has changed since 2011 regarding how patient safety issues are identified, reported, investigated and learned from – nevertheless, we are committed to continuous learning and improvement. We have shared our conclusions and response to the review with the patients and families involved, and we thank them for their time and valuable input into the review.
We recognise that patients who received non-surgical spinal treatment from the surgeon between 2006 to 2011 may have concerns following the publication of this review. These patients have not been contacted directly because we have focused on concerns arising from the surgeon’s surgical practice; however, should any patient have concerns over the care they received, we would like them to get in touch with us by emailing spinal.review@mft.nhs.uk or by calling 0161 701 5659.
Click here to read our response to the review
Miss Toli Onon, Joint Group Medical Director of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in February 2024, expressed at the time her appreciation for the support of patients and their families in carrying out the review.
She said: “We sincerely apologise to patients and their families where our care has fallen short of the high standards which we expect, where harm has been caused and for the concerns and anxieties raised by this review process. We know the review has not been easy for patients and their families, and we thank them all for their time and valuable input into the review.
We have contacted every patient, or their family, whose care has been considered as part of the review and we offered to meet with any patient who wished to attend. Clinical assessments have already been undertaken for patients where required. If there are any other patients with concerns, we would very much like them to get in touch with us.
It is essential that we apply the lessons learned from this review to our constant work to improve our patients’ safety, the quality of care we provide to them and their experience of our services.”