Myles Bradbury: Addenbrooke's 'sorry' over doctor letters

A hospital has apologised after being attacked for failing to contact all the families whose children may have been abused by a paedophile doctor.

Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge said it wrote to 800 families who had regular contact with Myles Bradbury who has admitted abusing 18 boys.

But a number of parents told the BBC their children could have been abused but they had not received any contact.

The hospital has apologised and pledged to "learn from this".

Last week Bradbury, 41, of Herringswell, Suffolk, admitted abusing the boys in his care while working as a paediatric haematologist at the hospital between 2009 and 2013.

When the initial charges emerged, Addenbrooke's sent letters to 800 families of patients that Bradbury had seen regularly, telling them to come forward if they had concerns. A helpline was also set up.

But one woman, who wants to remain anonymous, said Bradbury treated her son alone behind a curtain on two occasions, but she had no idea about his crimes until she read about them in the media.

"When we called the hospital they couldn't guarantee 100% that our son wasn't involved, but I asked why we hadn't received a letter," she said.

"We were told by a consultant that if they had written to everybody they would have had to send thousands [of letters].

"We feel that any contact at all with him [Bradbury] should have prompted contact from Addenbrooke's. We are left wondering and we feel left out."

Addenbrooke's Hospital said: "We apologise if any families that did not hear from us directly feel they should have been contacted.

"Our agreed approach was to contact those families directly under Bradbury's care or who had, or were deemed likely to have had, very regular contact with Bradbury.

"We appreciate there were children that may occasionally have seen Bradbury on the ward but not regularly. We were trying not to cause unnecessary alarm to these patients and families.

"We are sorry if this approach has caused distress to any family and would urge them to get in touch with us for further support."

Bradbury is currently awaiting sentencing after admitting the charges at Cambridge Crown Court.