Inquests will be held into the deaths of at least 36 patients – and potentially dozens more – treated by the jailed former breast surgeon Ian Paterson.
As the fallout of one of the most horrific medical scandals in the history of the NHS continues, a pre-inquest review hearing at Birmingham and Solihull coroner’s court on Friday heard that 417 of Paterson’s cases where breast cancer was listed as the immediate cause of death had been examined.
Paterson, who attended the hearing remotely from prison, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2017, later increased to 20 years, for carrying out needless surgery on patients who were left traumatised and scarred.
Inquests have been confirmed in 36 cases, with a further 21 cases deemed likely to need an inquest after “preliminary” investigations. Another 36 cases are still to be reviewed.
The judge Richard Foster said a further 130 cases had been reported to the coroner where breast cancer was listed as contributing to death. A review of a selection of those cases was being carried out and a decision on whether they should all be reviewed would be made on its completion, he said.
The inquests, which will be conducted together, will assess whether Paterson’s actions or wider systemic failures contributed to the deaths, and will review documents about his training and how he was monitored. They will also look at how complaints by patients, staff and medical bodies were handled and the process of how his former patients were recalled to have their cases reviewed by the NHS and Spire, which ran private hospitals where Paterson also worked.
In 2020, an independent inquiry found that Paterson’s victims had been “lied to, deceived and exploited” by the rogue surgeon, who subjected more than 1,000 patients to damaging and unnecessary operations over 14 years before he was stopped. He also carried out unapproved “cleavage-sparing” mastectomies on patients, which left behind breast tissue, risking a return of cancer.
Concerns were raised about Paterson as far back as 2003 but, despite several internal and external investigations and complaints from patients, GPs and other surgeons, the General Medical Council did not suspend him until 2011.
Foster, who is overseeing the inquests, urged any next of kin of Paterson’s former patients to come forward, as in some cases a patient’s death certificate could not be traced, meaning their cause of death was unknown.
The coroner said in April that investigations into other cases were likely to conclude in early 2024. The inquests are expected to begin formally in the autumn of next year.
Foster said: “Systemic failings will form part of my investigations. My duty is to ensure that the relevant facts are fully, fairly and fearlessly investigated. It is also likely that I will be considering a report to prevent further deaths.”
Addressing the families of those who died, many of whom attended the hearing, he added: “Although much of today’s proceedings will focus upon the wider systemic issues, I want to reassure you that throughout you will always remain at the heart of my investigations, and I will leave no stone unturned in that endeavour.”
Paterson worked at Spire Parkway hospital and Spire Little Aston hospital in the West Midlands, as well as NHS hospitals run by the Heart of England NHS foundation trust, which merged with the University hospitals Birmingham NHS foundation trust in 2018.
PA Media contributed to this story
