Managers at Great Ormond Street Hospital brought in experts from the Royal College of Surgeons to address a "fractured" relationship between two consultants on the paediatric surgical urology team.
The BMJ is reporting that board documents released by Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) NHS Foundation Trust state that the trust called on the Royal College of Surgeons of England to review its paediatric urology surgical service after concerns raised by staff, inadequate outcome data, and serious “untoward” incidents.
The review reported that the consultants were widely reported to be excellent dedicated surgeons who looked after patients well. However, it said “a fractured relationship between two of the surgeons was causing difficulties in the operational and developmental aspects of the service and had the potential to affect patient care and safety if not resolved”.
The report said one consultant paediatric urologist appeared reluctant to collaborate with the wider team. There were also reports of inappropriate behaviour towards support staff and consultant colleagues by a member of the consultant team.
The review observed significant competition between some consultants for work, adding to the conflict within the consultant team.
The report highlights that the workload and transition to the EPIC computer system had put the consultant team under undue pressure. It said the structures and processes in place for individual consultant surgeons treating private patients were not clear and this had contributed to “interpersonal difficulties in the consultant team”.
The BMJ says the review team requested the trust to urgently tackle the “dysfunctional relationship” between the two consultants through mediation.
