Private firm in breast surgeon scandal will pay £27m damages to patients
AROUND 750 private patients treated by disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson will receive compensation from a
£37 million fund.
Spire Healthcare, which runs private hospitals across the UK, will contribute £27.2m to the fund, which is intended to halt legal proceedings against the group and any new claims.
Around £10m will be provided by co-defendants in the case including Paterson’s insurers.
Scot Paterson was jailed for 20 years after he was found guilty in April at Nottingham Crown Court of 17 counts of wounding with intent.
More than 500 of Paterson’s private patients had been due to take their case to the High Court next month.
Spire said the agreement was conditional on all parties agreeing, and the
Surgeon Ian Paterson was jailed for 20 years.
court approving, the terms of a formal court order.
Simon Gordon, interim chief executive at Spire, said: “He behaved with clear criminal intent and abused the trust of those who looked to him for his care and expertise.
“However, whilst nothing diminishes Mr
Paterson’s responsibility, these events took place in our hospitals, and this should not have happened.
“We accept that better clinical governance in the private hospitals where Mr Paterson practised, as well as in his NHS trust, might have led to action being taken sooner.” TWO young boys who took part in the ill-fated Pedal for Scotland cycle event at the weekend following the death of their grandmother say their race was ruined by vandals.
About 50 riders taking part in Sunday’s charity event between Glasgow and Edinburgh had their tyres punctured and couldn’t make the finish line due to the vandals.
Police have launched an investigation into tacks and broken glass being left on the route and urged anyone with information to contact them.
But that has come too late for Luke Taylor, eight, his brother Aaron, nine, and their father Dave, 38, who failed to finish after their tyres were punctured by broken glass on the road outside Slammannan, near Falkirk.