An experienced surgeon has been suspended for allegedly branding his initials on to a transplant patient’s liver.
Consultant Simon Bramhall is accused of burning ‘SB’ on to a patient’s liver as he operated on him.
The letters were found by a colleague during a routine check on the patient at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, West Midlands.
The 48-year-old consultant has been at his post at the hospital for over a decade and there are now fears that hundreds of other transplant patients may have received similar treatment.
A source revealed: ‘It is quite astonishing to think someone may have done this, especially someone as experienced at Mr Bramhall.
‘I am hoping this is just a mistake, I don’t know what would possess someone to do that to another human being.
‘I’m just a little shocked that something like this may have happened right under everyone’s noses.
‘It could have happened hundreds of times, who knows? It was just luck that this incident was brought to light.’
Experts say a beam of argon gas he allegedly used to brand his patient would leave superficial burns and is not usually harmful.
University Hospitals Birmingham Trust said it had ‘suspended a surgeon while an internal investigation is completed’.
When initially approached Mr Bramhall, from Redditch, Worcestershire, denied he was suspended.