Kuldeep Stohr #

Introduction #

Kuldeep Stohr is a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge who was suspended by the hospital and has not been at work there since March 2024, when her absence — initially attributed to personal reasons — led other doctors to discover a “higher than expected level of complications” among her former patients. By September 2026, a review programme covering her cases had found that 209 of 994 patients reviewed — 21% — “experienced harm,” most of them children when they had elective surgery, and the hospital’s chief executive declared she was “deeply sorry” to those affected. Stohr, who has said through lawyers that she is “co-operating” with the external investigation, has not been found to have committed any offence, and no criminal or regulatory finding against her personally has been announced.

Background Information #

Stohr worked as a surgeon at Addenbrooke’s, the teaching hospital of Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH), specializing in orthopaedic surgery including elective procedures on children. Her record had been questioned long before the current review: an external reviewer examined her work as far back as 2016 and made recommendations, and a separate review later found there were “a series of missed opportunities” — including CUH’s failure to act on those 2016 recommendations. In March 2024 she stopped attending work, first for what the hospital described as personal reasons, and in her absence her patients were seen by other doctors who noticed the pattern of complications that triggered formal scrutiny. The hospital suspended her the following year amid concerns about surgeries that were “below the expected standard.”

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

The chain of events began not with a complaint from the surgeon’s own conduct but with the complications other clinicians discovered while covering her patients: an initial review in 2025 found operations involving nine children were below expected standards, including one child named Darcey whose parents told the BBC they feared problems with her hip operation were “brushed under the rug.” Addenbrooke’s suspended Stohr amid concerns about surgeries “below the expected standard,” and an external clinical review led by Andrew Kennedy KC, staffed by ten senior consultants from NHS trusts around the country, was commissioned to examine her cases in full. That review’s interim picture, set out in a report to the CUH board, disclosed that of 924 patients reviewed to that point, 209 had “experienced harm” — the majority children at the time of their elective surgery — with 47 cases classed as severe and one fatal. The trust removed the board report from its public papers after the BBC contacted it for comment, and separately apologized for the mistaken publication of what was meant to be a confidential interim update.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The public reaction hardened around the parents whose children were caught up in the review, particularly after the July 2025 BBC reporting in which families described being told little while problems with their children’s operations went unexplained. The hospital’s own leadership responded with public contrition: chief executive Nicola Ayton said she was “deeply sorry” to patients and families, insisted “this should never have happened,” and promised that the final report — which will include confirmed levels of patient harm — would be shared with patients and families first before being published in full. The professional consequences for Stohr have been severe: suspension from the hospital, exclusion from clinical work since March 2024, and her cases under formal external review, with her legal representatives declining to comment on the latest figures. For the trust, the fallout extended beyond the surgeon herself — its paediatric orthopaedic service was described in board papers as “fragile,” with clinical capacity reduced by sickness absence, annual leave and a departed clinical fellow, while regulators and families awaited the review’s conclusions.

Current Status #

As of September 2026, Stohr remains suspended and away from clinical work, and the external review led by Andrew Kennedy KC is due to be completed later in 2026. The latest figures show 994 patients had initial clinical reviews, with 93% of cases fully complete, 209 found to have experienced harm, 139 of them children at the time of elective care, 31 patients needing additional care “related to the incident,” and sixty patients or family members accessing psychological support. None of the patients involved were identified in the report. Stohr has previously stated, “I always strive to provide the highest standards of care to all my patients,” and maintains through her lawyers that she is co-operating with the investigation; her representatives declined further comment when approached by the BBC about the September update. No date has been announced for any disciplinary or regulatory outcome.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The suspension has frozen Stohr’s surgical career for more than two years: she has not operated since March 2024, her cases are the subject of a national external review, and her name is now attached to one of the larger patient-harm reviews in recent NHS history. Whatever the final report concludes, the review has already reshaped her professional standing — the hospital’s public apologies, the confidential-report leak, and the national coverage of children harmed in her service have made her case a reference point in debates about how NHS trusts act on early warnings, given the finding that opportunities to intervene after the 2016 external review were missed. Her statement that she strives to provide the highest standards of care, and her cooperation with the investigation, mark the contours of her defense while she awaits an outcome that had not arrived as of September 2026.