Failings identified after gastric band surgery leads to death

In September 2014, 48-year-old Nadim Butt died following gastric band surgery due to the poor standard of care following his procedure.

North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court, concluded that Mr Butt died as a result of neglect at Royal Stoke University Hospital, formally University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

After battling with his weight for years, Mr Butt decided to have gastric band surgery, which makes the stomach smaller.

Two days after surgery Mr Butt was discharged, only to be readmitted later that day. He died just 24-hours later of multiple organ failure.

When Mr Butt arrived, staff were unable to contact the on-call bariatric surgeon in time.

On behalf of the trust, Medical Director Dr John Oxtoby offered condolences to the family and said: “The trust carried out an investigation following Mr Butt’s death. This found that all trust policies and procedures were followed, which are based on National Institute of Clinical Excellence and British Obesity and Metabolic Surgical Society recommendations.

However, as the inquest also found, the investigation did find that access to on-call bariatric consultants needs to be improved.”

Mr Butt’s sister Diba Butt said the family were happy with the outcome of the inquest, but wished it hadn’t had to happen.

She told the Express & Star newspaper: “It’s a long time we’ve been waiting for this inquest and we’re glad we’ve got the outcome that we have. And although we’ve lost Nadim, we hope the recommendations made by the coroner are taken on board and other lives are saved.”

What are the risks following gastric band surgery?

There are many complications that can happen during and after surgery. These include:

  • 1 in 20 people will suffer an infection
  • Blood clots in the legs or lungs of 1 in 100 people
  • Internal bleeding
  • Gallstones
  • Stomal stenosis (blockage in the stomach)
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
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