Derek McMinn: surgeon ‘accumulated thousands of body parts over 25 years’

A world-renowned surgeon collected and stored body parts of thousands of patients for 25 years in violation of legal and ethical guidelines, according to a leaked report seen by The independent.

Derek McMinn, who pioneered the hip resurfacing technique that doctors used to resurrect Andy Murray’s tennis career, preserved the bones of at least 5,224 patients he operated on, some of whom may have been children, despite of not having a license to store body parts or proper consent. of patients, based on research results. The case has been referred to the police by the Human Tissue Authority, which was not reported until last year. An informant from the private health care group where McMinn worked insisted: “Everything has been kept quiet, it has been covered up.”

The nurses, operating room staff and doctors at Edgbaston Hospital in Birmingham, where the surgeon performed most of his operations, apparently knew what he was doing. Some hospital staff even helped put patient bones in special pots for McMinn staff to preserve and collect, according to an internal report from BMI Healthcare, which runs the hospital.

However, it is understood that the full scale of McMinn’s actions, dating back to the 1990s, was kept hidden from some regulators until the The independent began consulting last week, despite the internal review being completed in October last year. BMI Healthcare also hasn’t reported any of McMinn’s patients, who were primarily private and paid £ 13,000 for the operation, but also included some referred by the NHS.

McMinn, who has treated politicians, sports stars and celebrities, apparently admitted to hospital bosses last year that he had been storing patient bones at his seven-room country house in Worcestershire, as well as at his commercial facility in Birmingham. , in the full knowledge of your BMI Healthcare Colleagues. He said he had kept the bones for his retirement, and hospital staff told the investigation that the body parts were intended to “keep his mind active.”

West Mercia Police have confirmed that officers were investigating an alleged violation of the Human Tissue Act relating to “a private premises in Worcestershire” following a referral from the Human Tissue Authority.

The Birmingham hip resurfacing procedure that McMinn pioneered involves removing the surface of the hip ball joint and replacing it with a metal ball, rather than replacing the entire joint and part of the femur, which means that the Patients are more mobile and less likely to need more surgery. . It is the bone from these joints that McMinn systematically collected and stored for decades, all apparently without the knowledge of his patients. The investigation found that it also amassed thousands of linked patient records and X-rays in a collection described as similar to “a police database” in its size and scale of personal information and DNA records. The researchers said they were unable to determine how the bone samples were stored.

An informant from the hospital said: “Everything has been kept quiet, they have covered it up. There are many patients who have not been told and who do not know that he has parts of his body.

“It was the goose that laid the golden eggs. It generated an enormous amount of income for the hospital. It had been there a long time; it was actually almost her hospital. It’s shocking how this was allowed to happen for so long. “

William Dewis, of Burntwood in Staffordshire, was one of McMinn’s NHS patients in 1999. He died in August 2018, but was told by his daughter Ollie The independent She was “shocked” to learn of the allegations, adding, “I just hope we can get to the bottom of this.” She also said that the failure of BMI to inform all of McMinn’s patients about the research was a “disgrace”. “They should have contacted all the patients as soon as they knew,” he said. “It’s awful they haven’t done it yet, there’s no excuse.”

The revelations refocus attention on safety within private hospitals just months after an investigation into jailed breast surgeon Ian Paterson, who performed unnecessary surgeries on more than 1,000 patients, warned the government that urgent action was needed. .

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, now chairman of the Commons Health Select Committee, called for an immediate investigation to determine the full scope of McMinn’s actions. He said The independent: “This case seems worrisome and we need answers quickly. It shows once again why the government should continue to implement the recommendations of the Paterson investigation as a matter of urgency. We have heard this issue of staff not speaking over and over again, so we cannot allow these recommendations to be taken overboard. “

In March 2019, a routine pathology audit at Edgbaston Hospital identified 20 bone pots dating from December 2018 in a storage area. The next day, senior management arranged for staff working for McMinn to collect the samples and take them to nearby The McMinn Center clinic, according to the investigation. Hospital staff should treat human tissue as clinical waste, place it for collection in bags and containers, and then take it to incineration.

The internal report, written by one of BMI’s CEOs and a sister hospital’s risk and quality manager, found no evidence that McMinn had any approval for the research, a requirement under the Human Tissue Act to store samples of patients, or that any investigation had been carried out. He stated that the hospital’s executive director contacted McMinn in early July of that year, warning him that the hospital did not have a license to store human tissue and that “in the future” the samples would have to be removed from the hospital premises that same day . of surgery.

Weeks later, the Quality of Care Commission inspected the hospital and learned of the pots found in March. In August last year, the watchdog asked the hospital to confirm that it had a license from the Human Tissue Authority and that McMinn had the consent of patients.

Only then was the surgeon asked to justify his actions. According to the internal report, McMinn emailed the hospital in August 2019 admitting that “the samples were to be used for research, that he had been collecting tissue for 25 years, that he obtained verbal consent, and that he had several thousand labeled samples in jars of formalin ”. with the corresponding notes, radiographs and investigations ”. It was suspended that month by BMI, which also reported to the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Human Tissue Authority. However, there are currently no GMC restrictions on your license to practice.

The report concluded: “Mr. McMinn has stored and continues to store material, ie tissue, that comes from human bodies.” He added that neither he nor his clinic had a license from the Human Tissue Authority to do so.

The report couldn’t verify how many samples McMinn had collected, but a member of the surgeon’s staff told him he had 5,224. He found that they are likely to come from several private hospitals, as well as NHS patients. At one point, McMinn had operated out of Spire Healthcare-owned Little Aston Hospital, and staff told investigators that the practice of collecting bones had continued there. It is understood that Spire has not had any contact from BMI advising that their patients may have been affected.

The report concluded that he had failed to meet multiple requirements of the General Medical Council and the Human Tissue Authority. The HTA said The independent which he was unable to comment due to the ongoing police investigation.

It is understood that the CQC was not aware of the full extent of the problems until last Friday, after The independent he had started making inquiries. Professor Ted Baker, Chief Hospital Inspector, said: “While we understand that BMI’s internal investigation was delayed, it is disappointing that it took so long to share the findings with us.” He said the watchdog would review the reports to determine if further action was needed, while the General Medical Council also requested the investigative reports.

When he approached him The independentMcMinn declined to comment. Circle Health Group, which took over BMI Healthcare in June this year, said the hospital’s leadership had changed since the investigation and the delays in the transmission of the internal report were so that a complex and extensive series of tests could be carried out. additional research. A spokesperson said the group “would like to apologize for the completely unacceptable and distressing actions of this surgeon in previous years,” adding: “We will leave no stone unturned in the investigation of these historical problems; all have been reported to the appropriate authorities and we will cooperate closely with regulators to resolve them. “

Spire Healthcare, whose patients were also affected, said it had not been contacted, although Circle Health Group claims to have raised the issue in August last year. Circle also said it could find no evidence that NHS patients are affected and that the decision was made not to inform patients because there was no significant harm, although this is now under review.

If you or someone you know has been operated on by Derek McMinn, please email [email protected]