Family of man who died at Addenbrooke's Hospital disgusted as unit investigated
Changes were recommended following John Brackenbury's death in 2016, but there are claims they've not been actioned
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The family of a man who died waiting for life-saving brain surgery say it’s “despicable” that changes haven't been made a decade on.
John Brackenbury died at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in 2016 after doctors chose to operate on another patient first.
An inquest found failings and made recommendations, but whistleblowers claim they weren’t implemented.
His daughter Jenny says the family are deeply disappointed.
"It feels like his death was in vain, and we didn't want that. We wanted to protect other people and that fact that I'm hearing nearly 10 years on that nothing has changed, I just think that's despicable."
John was admitted to Addenbrooke's in November 2016 after suffering a brain haemorrhage, which needed treatment within 48 hours.
His operation was delayed until the following day, but he died overnight.
John's widow, Jean, said: "We were told it was an unfortunate sequence of events and they took the wrong person. They took an 85-year-old 'Mrs B' instead of a 70-year-old 'Mr B'."
Cambridge University Hospitals Trust has apologised and says it's "committed" to learning lessons.
Dr Sue Broster, chief medical officer at Cambridge University Hospitals, said: "We remain saddened by Mr Brackenbury's death, and our thoughts are with his family.
"We are committed to learning any lessons we can from his family's experience to improve the service we offer to patients, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with his family.
"The trust recognises that our decision to commission an external review into our neurosciences services has caused concern for Mr Brackenbury's family and for some of our patients, and we are sorry for the distress this has caused."
An investigation is also underway into the suspended surgeon Kuldeep Stohr, after serious issues with some of her operations on children.