Orthopaedic surgeon who botched four operations while working as a locum is struck off

A surgeon whose attempt to repair a fractured ankle was called “a spectacular failure” by one consultant and “a frightening example of orthopaedic surgery” by another has been struck off the UK medical register.

Gladys Johnson-Ogbuneke, who qualified in Nigeria, botched four operations in 2010 and 2011 while working as a locum registrar in trauma and orthopaedics at South London Healthcare NHS Trust, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel found. One consultant, Mr B, who had previously worked with her, refused to let her operate on any of his patients, and she was assigned to work with another consultant, Mr O.

Two of Johnson-Ogbuneke’s bungled operations were hip hemiarthroplasties. In one, performed on Patient A, she was unable to remove the fractured femoral head out of the hip socket, and the operation had …