Scandal of breast surgeon butcher – 11 ,000 women now face checks

‘Culture of denial’ let doctor carry on maiming patients... and it could happen again, says damning report

‘Wilful blindness to his behaviour’

‘Missed chances to stop him’

ALL 11,000 patients of a rogue breast cancer surgeon who maimed hundreds of women must be recalled so checks can be made on their treatment, an official report urged yesterday.

A two-year investigation concluded that a culture of ‘denial’ enabled Ian Paterson to perform more than 1,000 botched or unnecessary operations over a 14-year period.

It laid bare a litany of blunders which allowed him to continue practising after his bosses and colleagues displayed a ‘ wilful blindness’ to his conduct.

This was despite many staff and patients being concerned about the disgraced doctor’s behaviour and some making complaints.

But hospital chiefs’ failure to take decisive action meant Paterson was ‘hiding in plain sight’, the damning report concluded.

Amid fears over the extent of his malpractice, the independent inquiry’s chairman, the Right Reverend Graham James, urged the NHS trust which employed Paterson and a private healthcare firm for which he also carried out treatment to check all of his patients had been recalled.

Paterson, 62, is serving 20 years in jail for 17 counts of wounding with intent.

The disgraced surgeon treated cancer patients at NHS and private hospitals in the West Midlands. His ‘experimental mastectomies’, in which in which he failed to remove all tissue, meant the disease returned in many of his patients – with 675 of the 1,207 who had undergone the unregulated procedure later dying.

Others had surgery they did not need, with some finding out years later they did not have cancer.

The Paterson Inquiry, launched in May 2018, published 15 recommendations after hearing 177 firsthand accounts from the surgeon’s former patients.

Among them was a call for the creation of an accessible single database of key information about consultants’ performance as a one-stop shop for patients.

Victims demanded that hospital bosses who failed to take action against Paterson should be held to account over the scandal. No

Jailed: Ian Paterson at court senior NHS figure has yet been. They also called for the doctor to face manslaughter charges over his malpractice. Five of Paterson’s colleagues have been referred to health watchdogs by the inquiry and one matter to the police.

In his report Mr James, the retired Bishop of Norwich, appeared to warn that another rogue surgeon could still slip through the net today.

He said: ‘It was striking that while managers and regulators were confident another Paterson would be identified, the clinicians we consulted were not convinced.

‘They thought it was the culture of avoidance and denial that was the problem, and wherever such a bad culture is found, patients may not be safe.’

In a devastating rebuke of medical staff who failed to act, Mr James said: ‘ My report sets out what can only be described as wilful blindness in relation to Paterson’s behaviour and aberrant clinical practice.

‘Colleagues avoided or worked round him. Some could have known, while others should have known, and a few must have known. There was too much keeping heads down. To a surprising degree he was “hiding in plain sight”.’

The Bishop said there were ‘missed opportunities’ to stop Paterson, describing the failure to suspend him five years into his practice in 2003 – when an NHS colleague first raised concerns – as ‘inexplicable’. The disgraced surgeon was eventually suspended eight years later – which Mr James called an ‘appallingly long time’. In the introduction to his 232-page report, he said it was not ‘simply a story about a rogue surgeon’.

He added: ‘It is the story of a healthcare system which proved itself dysfunctional at almost every level when it came to keeping patients safe, and where those who were the victims of Paterson’s malpractice were let down time and time again.

‘This report is primarily about poor behaviour and a culture of avoidance and denial.’

Last month, police announced they had asked the senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull to examine a sample of 23 deaths of former patients.

The surgeon was employed by the Heart of England Foundation Trust but also practised on private patients at Spire Parkway and Spire Little Aston in Birmingham.

Paterson was not interviewed in person for the inquiry. A statement on his behalf said he had answered questions in writing and is appealing against his convictions.

Responding to the report, Royal College of Surgeons president Professor Derek Alderson said: ‘The measures outlined could help prevent another rogue surgeon in the future from getting away with the appalling and criminal behaviour the inquiry has exposed.

‘However, the test will be whether Government and regulators act on these recommendations.’

General Medical Council chief executive Charlie Massey said he was sorry patients were let down and welcomed the recommendations. He added: ‘We must continue to challenge problematic workplace cultures, encourage transparency, and work collaboratively to protect patients.’

Health Minister Nadine Dorries said: ‘I deeply regret the failures of the NHS and the independent sector to protect patients from the devastating impact of Paterson’s malpractice.

‘ We will give thorough and detailed consideration to this report and its findings and will provide a full response in due course.’

THE charge sheet is deeply shocking, but the story depressingly familiar.

Rogue breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson was able to carry out botched and unnecessary operations on women for years with virtual impunity.

Many paid thousands in fees, only to be disfigured by him at private hospitals.

Some died after their cancer returned following bungled surgery. Some later discovered they didn’t have cancer at all.

Yet patient complaints, even when backed by evidence, were treated with disdain.

The five hospitals Paterson worked at (three NHS, two private) were steeped in a culture of avoidance and denial, allowing him to hide his butchery in plain sight.

Yesterday’s report into his vile crimes, for which he’s now serving 20 years, said the healthcare system had been ‘dysfunctional at almost every level’, and made 15 recommendations intended to prevent anything similar happening again. But will they really be enough? Until hospitals abandon their obsessive secrecy, treat whistleblowers with respect rather than contempt and truly put patients first, there will always be a chance that monsters like Paterson can still slip through the net.