Decision due soon on Royal Oldham post-mortem inquiry

Doctor Khalid Ahmed worked as a consultant histopathologist for Pennine Acute Hospitals and carried out 1,351 post-mortems for the north Manchester Coroner between January 2007 and May 2017

Some of the families of the 26 people caught up in the post-mortem scandal at the Royal Oldham Hospital have called for a public inquiry into what went on.

Inquests into the 26 people are currently on hold after concerns were raised about the work of histopathologist Doctor Khalid Ahmed during his time at the hospital.

He worked as a consultant histopathologist for Pennine Acute Hospitals and carried out 1,351 post-mortems for the north Manchester Coroner between January 2007 and May 2017.

However, concerns have been raised about the standard of his work.

A report by Professor Simon Kim Suvarna, from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, found there were “multiple and significant deficiencies with Dr Ahmed’s reports.", including the fact that he appeared not to have confirmed the patient’s identity.

The families of those involved were given the chance to express their opinions at a hearing in Heywood.

However, not all have agreed that a public inquiry is the best way forward.

Such an inquiry would hold up the inquest hearings into the 26 people, with some families calling for no further delays.

A decision is due to be made in the next ten days about whether to refer the case to the Government, which would open the door for a public inquiry.

Pennine Acute Hospitals have said they’ve launched their own internal investigation into Dr Ahmed’s work.

An investigation by Greater Manchester Police is also underway.

Dr Ahmed was dismissed by Pennine Acute last month.

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