The Royal College of Surgeons has been approached by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to investigate a “small number of cases” of complex trauma surgery that had been carried out by orthopaedic surgeon Toby Branfoot.

The initiation of investigations against Branfoot, who voluntarily performs non-clinical duties, results from growing concerns about his treatment of patients, including the
21-year-old Simon Aitcheson, of Oakenshaw – a trainee accounts clerk who had a leg amputated after a procedure carried out by Branfoot.

It was in June 2008 that Aitcheson was admitted to Leeds General Infirmary for a supposed surgery to rectify a three-centimetre left leg length discrepancy and foot deformity. However, after the treatment, he now has to put up with long-term mobility problems; and, as per his lawyers, will require further care, an adapted property, as well as special prosthesis.

Representing Aitcheson’s case, Rachelle Mahapatra, chief of the medical law team at Leeds’ Irwin Mitchell, said: “The amputation is an unnecessary tragedy which will affect his personal and professional life and is likely to cause further medical problems as he grows older.”

With Irwin Mitchell also having confirmed that Branfoot has been reported to the General Medical Council as well, a spokesperson of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said that while Branfoot’s clinical practice is being investigated, Aitcheson’s “specific case is subject to legal action” and the Trust cannot comment on it.