Jack Moate, who had many complex medical needs and limited mobility, spent almost eight hours in surgery for an operation on his hips
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Lawyers for the mother of a nine-year-old boy who died less than two months after a now-suspended surgeon operated on him have said they will ask a coroner to call on the surgeon to give evidence at the child’s inquest.
Jack Moate, who had many complex medical needs and limited mobility, spent almost eight hours in surgery for an operation on his hips.
He was operated on by Kuldeep Stohr, an orthopaedic consultant who specialises in children, at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge on September 28 2015.
The nine-year-old died on November 21 2015, with his mother saying he was “in agony”.
His care has since been reviewed as part of a wider exercise.
An inquest into Jack’s death is due to open on Tuesday after Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) reported Jack’s case to the coroner, and a solicitor representing Jack’s mother has said they will be asking the coroner to call Ms Stohr as a witness to appear and give evidence in person.
Elizabeth Maliakal, of Hudgell Solicitors, said: “Given the findings of the independent review into Jack’s treatment, which questioned Ms Stohr’s decision-making, the quality of her surgery, and concluded that fatal physical harm was caused, we will be requesting that the coroner call Ms Stohr to attend the full inquest, rather than just provide a written witness statement.
“This will importantly allow key questions to be put to her.”
Ms Maliakal said there are “many questions which need answering” about Jack’s surgery, including how it was “conducted and assessed”, as well as about further treatment the nine-year-old received when he returned to hospital and was later sent home.
A letter from CUH to Jack’s mother Elizabeth Moate, seen by the Press Association earlier this month, said that an independent clinical expert who reviewed the boy’s care found “there was evidence that fatal physical harm was caused”.
The letter, dated February 2 of this year, stated that: “In the NHS, fatal harm means at the time of reporting, the patient, in this case Jack, has died and the incident may have contributed to the death.”
Jack suffered “significant blood loss” in a procedure which ultimately left his right hip wrongly aligned and his left hip unstable and unhealed, lawyers for Ms Moate said.
Ms Moate said she will be attending the hearing on Tuesday to “seek justice for Jack”.
“This inquest should have taken place shortly after Jack died, yet 10 years have been allowed to pass before his death has started to be properly investigated,” she said.
“For a decade, serious questions about his treatment, the surgery he underwent, and the actions of Ms Stohr and the hospital have gone unanswered.
“Ms Stohr has not yet had to answer publicly to families like mine. I believe I deserve the opportunity to hear a clear and honest explanation of the surgery she performed on my son, and to understand why independent experts have been so critical of her work.
“Nothing can bring Jack back. But this inquest is about the truth, about accountability, and about ensuring that no other family has to endure what we have been through.”
Jack’s case was reviewed as part of a wider external clinical review commissioned by the trust last year into the practice of Ms Stohr amid concerns about care that was “below the expected standard”.
The trust said last March that the care of “almost 700 patients who have undergone planned surgical procedures” would be reviewed.
Concerns were raised as early as 2015 and were the subject of an external clinical review in 2016.
Ms Stohr was removed from clinical practice in 2024 and subsequently suspended.
She remains suspended.
It is expected that the clinical review process will conclude this summer, with the trust set to publish findings and any recommendations.