Private healthcare provider Spire Healthcare failed to transfer a critically ill patient to the NHS for intensive care quickly enough, leading to the woman’s death, according to an investigation by BBC Panorama. Nafisa Khan underwent a gallbladder operation at a Spire facility after being told it would speed up the procedure. The morning after the surgery, her condition deteriorated and she became critically ill. Despite the serious nature of her symptoms, Spire staff did not recognise the severity of her condition and failed to transfer her. She died shortly after arriving in NHS intensive care.
The investigation revealed that a number of patients treated in Spire’s hospitals may not have realised that the facilities lacked an intensive care unit. One medical investigator noted that this lack of understanding about the capabilities of private hospitals represented a major risk to patient safety. Spire Healthcare has since updated its websites, in response to questions from the BBC, to clarify that patients may need to be transferred to the NHS for intensive care.
This is one of a number of deaths following surgery at Spire Healthcare that were investigated by BBC Panorama. Spire runs 39 private hospitals across the UK and has treated more than half a million NHS patients since 2021. Last year, its profits rose by over 30% to reach £126m.
Doctors contracted by Spire to work up to 168 hours a week also spoke to Panorama, highlighting their workload and the potential impact on patient safety. One doctor stated he was “working round the clock, being the only doctor at night. Feeling constantly burnt out. And this obviously is not safe for the patients, nor for me as a doctor.”
Spire Healthcare has previously been implicated in a medical scandal regarding operations carried out by rogue surgeon Ian Paterson, and the death of a patient following sepsis contracted after a routine hernia operation. A coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report warning against Spire’s reliance on ambulance transfers in the event of emergencies
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