Peterborough City Hospital doctor arrested over two patient deaths

Dr Andy Gregg (48) was arrested on suspicion of gross negligent manslaughter on March 15 last year and is currently on police bail.

The consultant anaesthetist, who has been suspended from practising, is being investigated over allegations he “inappropriately hastened the death of patients in his care.”

He is also the subject of an investigation by the General Medical Council (GMC) over multiple cases.

Dr Gregg strenuously denies the allegations.

Details of his arrest and the allegations have only come to light now due to a recent High Court ruling.

The court ruled the trust, which runs the hospital, cannot stop paying him and cannot continue with its own disciplinary procedures into the deaths of both patients before the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decides whether to charge Dr Gregg in connection with the deaths.

Dr Kanchan Rege, medical director at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough City Hospital, said the trust was deciding whether to appeal the High Court ruling.

She added: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment any further as the police investigation is ongoing.”

Dr Gregg has been employed at the hospital since September 2003.

On January 4, 2016, a 41-year-old man with acute myeloid leukaemia, who Dr Gregg was the consultant for, died two hours after receiving increased dosages for sedative and a pain-killer.

Police later handed over the case to the CPS which was of the view that it “did not cross the necessary threshold to charge Dr Gregg,” the High Court said.

The trust also become aware of a second patient who had suffered a serious heart attack in 2013.

He was sedated and died within four hours 30 minutes of being passed into Dr Gregg’s care, according to the High Court.

Dr Gregg was arrested over the second patient in March 2017 then bailed two months later.

In May 2017 the independent adjudicative arm of the GMC suspended Dr Gregg’s registration to practice.

In August 2017, the police notified the trust that they were investigating a further five cases involving Dr Gregg, and in the same month the GMC informed Dr Gregg that it had decided to include sixteen new cases in its investigation, according to the High Court ruling. It is not known whether these cases relate to patient deaths. The anaesthetist is currently on police bail until June.