Manslaughter charges ‘being considered against UHS’

Operation Bramber was launched amidst allegations of clinical negligence and resultant serious harm, and has grown to include more than 200 cases – including at least 40 deaths.

The investigation, by Sussex Police, focuses on the neurosurgery and general surgery departments within University Hospitals Sussex between 2015 and 2021.

It has now been revealed that manslaughter by gross negligence charges are being considered, both on a corporate and individual basis, against the Trust.

A group of families affected by Operation Bramber has called for the Trust’s executive team to resign in light of the development, accusing them of presiding over “unacceptably poor health services”.

The police investigation was launched in 2023 after two whistleblower surgeons came forward with profound concerns over levels of care being delivered within the Trust. Separate reports by the Royal College of Surgeons and CQC revealed a “culture of fear” and poor leadership.

Slater and Gordon is being instructed by growing numbers of individuals and families whose cases form part of Operation Bramber, and who have experienced poor standards of care from University Hospitals Sussex.

“The scale of Operation Bramber is astonishing, and the fact that manslaughter charges are now being considered is truly shocking. People living in this area are reliant on this Trust to deliver care to them and their families, and have placed their trust in them to safeguard their health and welfare – this will be an alarming development for them to hear about,” says principal lawyer Nisha Sharma.

“We are acting for growing numbers of people who have been affected by extremely poor standards of care at University Hospitals Sussex, and they understandably have many questions around what happened to them and why. We welcome the fact the police investigation is clearly progressing at pace, and hope this will help to deliver some of the answers they need and deserve.

“For anyone who has concerns over the care they have received at this Trust and has yet to come forward, we would urge them to do so as a priority. The fact Operation Bramber has grown over the course of many months to over 200 cases helps to shed some light on the breadth of this – and we may not yet have discovered the true scale.”