Doc on trial ‘would perform op on wife’

SURGEON Ian Paterson recommended a GP undergo a “quite unnecessary” operation to remove her right breast – after suggesting he would take the same course of action on his own wife, a court heard.

Retired GP Rosemary Platt said she was “anxious” about her health and said she was under the impression she already had cancer after abnormalities had been found in lumps.

She said despite her profession, she “left her GP hat at the door” and trusted the advice given to her by the then Midland-based consultant to go under the knife in 2001 after discovering the growths, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

Mrs Platt told the jury: “He (Paterson) felt that the time had come to have a mastectomy because the carcinoma could become aggressive and spread at any time.

“It was a very decision.

“I talked it through with my husband, and when Mr Paterson mentioned it in the clinic, my husband asked him, if his wife had difficult the same particular pathology, would this be the course of action he would take? And he said yes.

“I felt he was a trusted professional, he was a doctor who cared about his patients and he would give me the best advice in this situation.”

The alleged victim interrupted her evidence at one point and said that Paterson had said something “offensive” while she was giving her testimony.

Paterson, who was formerly employed by Heart of England NHS Trust and also practised at Spire Healthcare, is standing trial after denying 20 counts of wounding with intent against nine women and one man relating to procedures he carried out between 1997 and 2011.

Jurors have previously heard claims he carried out completely unnecessary operations for “obscure motives” which may have included a desire to “earn extra money”. Mrs Platt was 47 in July 1997 when she was referred to Paterson after finding a lump in her right breast, with a mammogram and fluid being removed from the area. She later underwent an

excision of the lump and had another procedure on her armpit which she described as “excruciating, to put it mildly” one month later, with the advice she should keep an eye on the situation and have regular scans.

After the discovery of more lumps over the course of the following four years, the suggestion of a mastectomy and reconstruction was mooted – with the operation eventually lasting six hours.

She said: “It took a long time to recover from it.”

In cross-examination by defence QC Nicholas Johnson, he suggested that Dr Platt’s memory of the procedures and details surrounding them may be affected by the passage of time. She replied: “Having stitches removed from a breast cut was painful... and I think pain helps you remember things.

“I was anxious, I had a lump in my breast, I had a malignant condition that was known about.

“Come on, you go for the safest option. That was the option he offered me and I took it. I felt he was acting in my best interests.”

Paterson, 59, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester denies 20 counts of wounding with intent.

(Proceeding)

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