Solihull Surgeon investigated

Over two hundred patients have been recalled for medical assessment after a senior Doctor at Spire Parkway Hospital was accused of performing unnecessary operations.  

In all 217 individuals have been offered case reviews after Dr Habib Rahman, a senior orthopaedic surgeon at the Solihull hospital, had his practice suspended and was subsequently the subject of an investigation by the Royal College of Surgeons. 

Mr Rahman is still working for the NHS under what has been described as “interim conditions”. Spire Healthcare said in a statement, “Following the Royal College’s guidance, we wrote to all shoulder patients who were identified as requiring follow up to offer them a consultation with an independent surgeon to review their care and to understand more about their post-operative recovery. That process is still ongoing. We would encourage patients who have received a letter to follow up on our offer of a free review by an independent specialist to ensure their care has been as expected.”

A 52 year old lady, a former patient, was referred to Mr Rahman by her GP on the basis of shoulder pains and carpal tunnel syndrome. She subsequently had two unnecessary operations in a two month period. Subsequently she received a letter from the hospital trust asking her to attend a meeting. The lady commented, “ Not only was I told my surgeries were unnecessary, but that the type of surgery I’d received from Mr Rahman wasn’t his specialist field. I trusted him. He was dressed smartly and was very charming. I had no reason to doubt anything he said.”  

There have been suggestions of systematic failings in the Midlands area after a second surgeon, Ian Patterson, faced similar claims of performing unnecessary surgeries. He was jailed for “wounding patients by performing unnecessary procedures” with a jail term of 20 years. 

At this point matters are being reviewed by both the medical profession and the legal profession with a view to possible medical negligence and criminal actions.