A hospital has permanently stopped specialist keyhole surgery after five cancer patients died from avoidable complications. The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust halted upper gastrointestinal (GI) operations for throat and stomach cancer patients last year. It came after an internal review found the deaths of five patients between 2012 and 2013 could have been avoided. Patients requiring the surgery were referred to St Thomas' Hospital in London for a period of 12 months. But the Kent trust has now said the decision to stop the operations at the hospital will be permanent. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said a decision to refer upper gastrointestinal operations for throat and stomach cancer patients to St Thomas' in London, taken last year, will be a permanent move . Medical director Paul Sigston said: 'The trust will not be resuming upper GI cancer resection surgery, but diagnostic work and cancer treatment will continue to take place locally at both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals. 'Major upper GI cancer surgery will not be carried out at MTW and we are currently working with our NHS partners to plan the long-term strategy for patients needing this kind of treatment.' The service was given a high-profile launch in 2010 and included the opportunity for consultants and trainees to watch on screen at a lecture theatre next door. But subsequent investigations found more than 30 per cent of patients who underwent the surgery developed complications. The trust initially suspended operations in December 2012 following two deaths and resumed in January 2013 before three more fatalities forced them to stop again. A report by the Royal College of Surgeons last May concluded that surgeons at Maidstone Hospital were unable to provide a safe service. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust admitted potentially avoidable complications could have contributed to the five deaths between 2012 and 2013. Three surgeons were barred from carrying out the procedures, but all have been allowed to continue doing general surgery. The decision came after an internal review found the deaths of five patients between 2012 and 2013 could have been avoided . The report says the team was ‘dysfunctional’, their working practices were ‘secretive’, and they had a ‘difficult’ relationship with anaesthetists. It found there was a high rate of complications associated with the keyhole techniques, and that after care for patients was poor. Speaking last May, Dr Sigston, medical director of the trust, said: ‘I would again like to apologise to the families involved.’ The incidents were referred to the General Medical Council and the trust also conducted its own internal inquiry while procedures were suspended. Sharon Lam, from Thomson Snell and Passmore solicitors, represents the families of the five patients who died and said they welcomed the decision not to resume surgery. She said: 'If they have any doubt as to their ability to deliver a safe service to the patients then that must be a correct decision.'
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust halted surgery last year . Upper gastrointestinal (GI) operations referred to St Thomas' Hospital . Came after internal review found 5 patients died of avoidable complications . Kent trust has now said decision to stop surgery will be a permanent one .