Surgeon's work dating back 26 years to be reviewed

Patients who were treated by a spinal surgeon in Greater Manchester will be contacted to have their care reviewed, a hospital group said.

Spire Healthcare said it would be in touch with patients who were treated by John Bradley Williamson from 1998 at Spire Manchester hospital.

The recall comes after a review in 2023 found that Williamson, who also worked at Salford Royal Hospital and Manchester Children's hospital, caused "severe harm" to seven patients in his care in Salford.

Responding to the review, Mr Williamson said standards in many aspects of the medical practice had "changed considerably since 1998".

“I have always made patient care my first priority and recent reports of reviews have acknowledged evidence of good outcomes, some in very complex cases," he said.

The NHS review of 130 of Mr Williamson's patients found support screws were poorly placed in some people's spines and some patients suffered heavy blood loss.

Spire Healthcare said it initially carried out a recall of patients who underwent specific spinal procedures by Williamson between 2008-2013 at its private hospitals.

The healthcare provider said it decided to extend the recall to cover all patients who received specific spinal procedures from 1998, to ensure that all patients have received an appropriate standard of care.

Group medical director Dr Cathy Cale said: "We are committed to reviewing the care of all patients where concerns are raised.

"We recognise that it will be challenging to carry out a recall dating back to 1998 but we will endeavour to be as thorough as possible and to support those patients involved in the process."

Spire is currently in the process of identifying the patients to be contacted and will then write to them.

Greater Manchester Police is currently conducting a review into the death of Catherine O'Connor, 17, who died during an operation carried out by Williamson at an NHS hospital in 2007.

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