Key Points

• A Royal College of Physicians (RCP) review has concluded that respiratory consultant Dr Veronica Varney “contributed to patients’ irreversible lung damage, poor quality of life or premature death” at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, south London.
• Dr Varney worked as a respiratory consultant at St Helier Hospital in the borough of Sutton, run by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.
• The trust’s own data showed that of 216 patients she treated for interstitial lung disease (ILD):
  • 42% were not referred to specialist ILD teams,
  • 30% received no care at all, and
  • 20% were not properly investigated diagnostically.
• The trust stated that instead of referring patients to specialist multidisciplinary teams, Dr Varney acted unilaterally and often provided outdated care that ultimately caused harm.
• Concerns about her practice were first raised in 2019; she left the trust in 2023.
• Dr Varney was formally referred to the General Medical Council (GMC) in September 2024, and interim restrictions were placed on her practice.
• The RCP review, published on 9 July 2026, was commissioned to assess the full extent of harm caused to patients under her care.
• The RCP and trust have highlighted that ILD, particularly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, has a median survival of only three to three and a half years after diagnosis, making it complex to determine precisely whether harm occurred and how much it contributed to outcomes.
• Issues identified included insufficient investigations, failure to refer to specialist ILD multidisciplinary teams, lack of treatment, and inappropriate treatment options.
• The review was expected to take around six months and was based on the assumption that harm was likely to have occurred in some cases.

Carshalton (South London News) July 9, 2026, and the hospital is St Helier Hospital, part of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Royal College of Physicians review, published today (9 July 2026), states that Dr Veronica Varney, a respiratory consultant at the hospital,

“contributed to patients’ irreversible lung damage, poor quality of life or premature death” .

As reported by the BBC, the trust’s own audit found that 42% of 216 patients she treated for interstitial lung disease were not referred to specialist teams, 30% received no care at all, and 20% were not properly investigated diagnostically.

The trust said that instead of using specialist ILD multidisciplinary teams, Dr Varney acted unilaterally and often provided outdated care that ultimately caused harm.

What does the Royal College of Physicians review say about the scale of harm?

The RCP review was commissioned by the hospital trust to gauge the full extent of harm caused to patients under Dr Varney’s care .

According to the BBC, the review was expected to take around six months and was based on the assumption that harm was likely to have occurred in some cases.

The report highlighted specific problems: insufficient investigations, failure to refer to specialist ILD multidisciplinary teams, lack of treatment, and inappropriate treatment options.

These failures were identified across a large cohort of patients treated for interstitial lung disease, a serious and often progressive condition.

How do the nature of ILD and survival rates affect the harm assessment?

The review also noted a medical complexity in assessing harm. The median survival rate following a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis—a type of ILD—is only three to three and a half years, making it difficult to evaluate definitively whether harm occurred and, if so, to what extent it contributed to outcomes.

This means that while the review concludes Dr Varney contributed to irreversible lung damage, poor quality of life or premature death, the precise contribution of her actions relative to the natural course of the disease cannot always be quantified with absolute certainty in every individual case.

What steps have been taken after concerns were raised about Dr Varney’s practice?

Concerns about Dr Varney’s practice were first raised in 2019, according to the trust’s statements. She continued to work at St Helier Hospital until she left the trust in 2023.

The timeline indicates that concerns were raised several years before her departure, suggesting that issues with her clinical decision-making were observed and documented over a sustained period.

What regulatory action has been taken by the General Medical Council?

Dr Varney was formally referred to the General Medical Council (GMC) in September 2024, and interim restrictions were placed on her practice.

As noted by the BBC, an independent physician involved in assessing treatment for over 200 patients with lung conditions is currently under investigation by the GMC.

Interim restrictions on a doctor’s registration are used when the GMC believes there is a risk to patient safety or public confidence that requires immediate action while a fuller investigation is ongoing. This means Dr Varney is not able to practise freely while the GMC considers her fitness to practise.

What is the purpose and scope of the RCP review?

The Royal College of Physicians’ review, published on 9 July 2026, was specifically designed to gauge the full extent of harm caused to patients by Dr Varney’s practice.

The trust commissioned the RCP to conduct an independent learning review, which is intended not only to assess harm but also to inform future improvements in patient care and systems.

The review examined whether the care given to patients with interstitial lung disease at the hospital trust resulted in harm and, if so, assessed the extent of that harm.

It considered issues such as insufficient investigations, failure to refer to specialist teams, lack of treatment, and inappropriate treatment options.

How might this development affect patients, staff, and the wider NHS in south London?

For patients with interstitial lung disease in south London, particularly those treated at St Helier Hospital between 2019 and 2023, this review may have several implications.

Families and survivors may now have formal recognition that their care was inadequate and in some cases contributed to irreversible lung damage or premature death.

This could lead to:

• Increased awareness of the need for prompt referral to specialist ILD multidisciplinary teams.
• Greater expectation that diagnostic investigations are thorough and timely.
• Potential for some patients or families to seek further review of their cases, including through the NHS complaints process or legal routes.

Given the median survival of three to three and a half years for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, some patients assessed during that period may have already died, which means the human impact may be felt primarily by bereaved families now receiving this information.

How might this affect hospital staff and local NHS services?

For staff at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and other south London NHS providers, this review is likely to reinforce the importance of:

• Adhering to national guidelines on ILD management.
• Ensuring that complex respiratory cases are referred to specialist multidisciplinary teams rather than managed unilaterally.
• Strengthening internal audit and quality assurance processes to detect similar patterns of care failure earlier.

Trust leaders may now face pressure to demonstrate that systems have been changed to prevent similar incidents, including clearer pathways for ILD referral, better supervision of consultants, and more robust oversight of diagnostic and treatment decisions.

What could this mean for the regulatory and professional landscape?

For the GMC and the wider medical profession, this case highlights the risks when a consultant acts without appropriate referral and oversight in complex conditions such as ILD. It may lead to:

• Greater emphasis on mandatory training and supervision for consultants managing rare or complex conditions.
• Closer scrutiny of how trusts monitor individual clinicians’ referral patterns and diagnostic thoroughness.
• Potential updates to guidance on when and how to involve specialist multidisciplinary teams in respiratory care.

The fact that interim restrictions were placed on Dr Varney’s practice while the GMC continues its investigation shows that regulators are taking immediate action where there is evidence of significant harm.

Background of the development

This case originated from internal concerns raised within Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in 2019 about the respiratory care provided by Dr Veronica Varney to patients with interstitial lung disease at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Sutton. Over time, the trust identified systematic failures in her management of these patients, including:

• Lack of referral to specialist ILD multidisciplinary teams,
• Inadequate diagnostic investigations, and
• Instances where patients received no treatment at all or were given inappropriate treatment.

In response, the trust commissioned an independent review by the Royal College of Physicians to assess the full extent of harm.

The RCP review concluded that Dr Varney’s actions contributed to irreversible lung damage, poor quality of life, or premature death in some cases.

Following these findings, she was referred to the GMC in September 2024, and interim restrictions were placed on her practice while further investigations continue.

Prediction: how this development can affect the particular audience

For patients and families affected by interstitial lung disease in south London, this review may:

• Increase confidence that serious failures in care are being investigated and addressed.
• Encourage more patients to ask explicitly about referral to specialist ILD teams and to request detailed explanations of diagnostic plans.
• Lead some families to seek formal reviews of past care, especially if they believe similar patterns of non-referral or inadequate investigation affected their loved ones.

Over time, this could improve overall standards of ILD care in the region, as trusts and clinicians adapt to avoid similar criticism.

For staff and managers at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and other south London providers, this case is likely to:

• Strengthen internal processes for monitoring referral patterns and diagnostic completeness for complex respiratory conditions.
• Prompt more rigorous supervision of consultants managing ILD, with clearer escalation pathways to specialist teams.
• Increase scrutiny of how individual clinicians’ decisions are audited, potentially leading to earlier identification of problematic patterns.

If these changes are implemented effectively, they should reduce the risk of similar harm occurring in future cohorts of ILD patients.

For the wider medical community and regulators such as the GMC, this development may:

• Reinforce the importance of multidisciplinary team involvement in managing rare and complex conditions.
• Support further development of guidance on when unilateral consultant management is acceptable and when specialist referral is mandatory.
• Encourage trusts to adopt more proactive systems for early detection of care quality issues, rather than waiting for concerns to accumulate over several years.