A kitchen assistant who died of metastatic breast cancer five years after undergoing a mastectomy was not operated on by rogue surgeon Ian Paterson and died of natural causes, an inquest has concluded.
Christine Gould, from Solihull, died at the age of 56 in May 2003 after suffering a recurrence of breast cancer which had spread to her brain.
There were concerns that Mrs Gould’s mastectomy in March 1998 may have been carried out by disgraced breast surgeon Paterson, 66, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for wounding patients after being convicted in 2017.
A multidisciplinary team (MDT) of experts appointed to assist Birmingham and Solihull Coroners Court with a string of inquests touching on the deaths of 62 of Paterson’s former patients whose deaths may have been unnatural, raised concerns that, based on available medical records, Mrs Gould had not undergone chemotherapy after her mastectomy.
However, NHS England provided further records that indicated she did have appropriate chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The inquest was also told by Professor Nigel Bundred, one of the MDT experts, that although the operation note from Mrs Gould’s mastectomy was not available, it was likely to have been carried out by another breast surgeon at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, John Taylor, and not Paterson, who had only recently started working at the hospital when it was carried out.
Prof Bundred said he believed Mrs Gould’s care was “excellent” and the treatment she received was appropriate.
Coroner Richard Foster said he was satisfied that Mrs Gould’s cause of death was metastatic breast cancer and she died as a result of natural causes.
He said: “The evidence is now concluded, there will be no further evidence.
“I express my condolences to Christine’s family for her death at such a young age and I hope this allows them to draw some closure from their sad loss.”
The sixth of the 62 inquests is expected to start on Tuesday, touching on the death of Rosemarie Blake, a care assistant from Erdington in Birmingham, who was 56 when she died of cancer in 1997 at Good Hope Hospital.
