WHY DID NHS FAIL TO STOP BUTCHER SURGEON?
Doctor ‘who played God’ could have maimed as many as 1,000 women, so...
A BREAST cancer surgeon with a God complex is facing jail after thousands of botched or unnecessary operations over 15 years.
Scot Ian Paterson, 59, was convicted of wounding ten patients after conning them into going under his knife. Health officials came under fire as it emerged they repeatedly missed chances to stop him. NHS bosses faced damning questions over why whistleblowers were ignored and why Paterson
has not been prosecuted over his NHS operations. The father exaggerated or invented the cancer risk to convince patients to have surgery at two private hospitals, then butchered their bodies for financial gain.
One victim looked like she had been ‘in a car crash’ after an ‘entirely unnecessary’ mastectomy. As Paterson was convicted yesterday, police said they believe there could be hundreds more victims.
Jurors at his trial were not told Paterson is at the centre of a major scandal after carrying out 1,207 ‘experimental’ mastectomies in the NHS. Nor were they made aware that 675 of those who had his ‘cleavage saving mastectomies’ – in which he failed to remove all the tissue – have since died. They were not told the NHS has already shelled out nearly £10million in compensation and hundreds of his patients were recalled.
Emma Doughty, clinical negligence solicitor for Slater and Gordon, said: ‘God knows how many this actually affects. There are hundreds if not thousands of claimants … people who haven’t come forward, people who have died.’
Paterson, who was granted legal aid, was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent, for which the maximum sentence is life, and three of unlawful wounding.
The jury in Nottingham agreed with the prosecution that he carried out ‘life-changing operations for no medically justifiable reason’.
But a Mail investigation has revealed Paterson should have been struck off 20 years ago after nearly killing Gillian Dallow in a routine operation.
He was allowed to reinvent himself as a breast cancer surgeon and survived numerous complaints to botch thousands of operations in the NHS and hundreds more in private hospitals. Colleagues in both sectors ignored or failed to deal properly with warnings about his conduct.
Glasgow-born Paterson worked at hospitals run by the Heart of England Foundation Trust and practised at private hospitals in Solihull and Sutton Coldfield, latterly run by Spire Healthcare. A police investigation began in 2012 after a patient’s concerns over her treatment at a private hospital in Solihull.
When she looked at her medical files, she found information recorded by Paterson was untrue. He had by this point been suspended by the General Medical Council over his controversial CSMs. Last night Mrs Dallow said she felt ‘so relieved’ Paterson was facing jail, adding: ‘He should never have got away with what he did to me … How many lives has he wrecked?’
Victim Carole Johnson, who went under Paterson’s knife six times, said: ‘Our long wait for justice is finally over.’
Gail Lawrence, 50, who found he left tissue behind in her mastectomy, said managers at hospitals where Paterson worked must be ‘held accountable’, adding: ‘They should have stopped him.’
Paula Gelsthorpe, 59, who paid privately to have two lumpectomies with Paterson, called for a public inquiry, adding: ‘I can’t get my head around how he was able to do what he did for so long.’
Chief Superintendent Mark Payne of West Midlands Police said: ‘Paterson was a controlling bully, who played God with people’s lives so he could live a luxurious lifestyle.’ Paterson was granted bail pending sentencing next month. Butcher surgeon – Pages 8-11