No public inquiry into ‘incorrect’ and 'inadequate' post-mortems

Heywood’s Phoenix Centre, where the Coroner's office is located

A Heywood coroner has rejected calls for a public inquiry into a pathologist who has been accused of failing post-mortems.

Inquests for 26 people were put on hold because of concerns over the work of Doctor Khalid Ahmed, who worked as a consultant histopathologist at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/122115/public-inquiry-could-take-place-over-postmortem-tests

Senior Coroner Joanne Kearsley said she is not referring the case to the government but has not ruled out doing so after the inquests have taken place.

Dr Ahmed had conducted more than 1,300 post-mortems on behalf of the Manchester North Coroner’s Office between 2007 and 2017.

He qualified as a doctor in Bangalore, India in 1989 before later joining the Pennine Acute Trust.

However, following concerns raised about his private post-mortem examination work, a recent review into Dr Ahmed’s examinations found some reports had an ‘incorrect’ cause of death given.

The family of 32-year-old Allan Porter, from Heywood, had asked Ms Kearsley to refer the matter to the Secretary of State, as they have always disputed the cause of Allan’s death, which was given as a heart attack.

Professor Simon Kim Suvarna, a consultant histopathologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, examined some of Dr Ahmed’s post-mortem reports, finding some of them to be ‘inadequate’ and ‘incorrect’.

A police investigation is ongoing following a referral by the coroner and Dr Ahmed was dismissed from his post in August.