This evil doctor got 15 years. His patients got a life sentence
Trust. It’s a small word for such a crucial moral imperative. We’re hearing it constantly bandied about on the election stump because it taps into a deep collective need to feel assured, reassured that our best interests will be served by those who seek to govern us.
Politicians invariably languish at the bottom of “most trusted” league tables. Doctors, conversely, are instinctively trusted; an Ipsos Mori poll revealed that nine in 10 of us trust the medical profession to tell the truth.
But then along comes a Harold Shipman, the GP who murdered an estimated 260 elderly people over 27 years; a Beverley Allitt, the “Angel of Death” nurse who killed four children in her care; and now the rogue cancer surgeon Ian Paterson, a remorseless man with a grotesque “God complex”, who preyed upon frightened patients who had complete faith in his integrity.
His victims may have been present in the public gallery to watch as he was sent down for 15 years, but make no mistake: this monstrous criminal took their lives.
Every time Paterson made an unnecessary incision, took a scalpel to healthy tissue or lied to frightened patients in order to persuade them to have needless surgery, he butchered their breasts and stole their peace of mind. They have been left with depression, pain, post-traumatic stress, infertility and mutilated bodies.
And yet when Paterson, 59, was convicted of 17 counts of wounding wth intent and three counts of unlawful wounding, he was the one who broke down in tears of self pity.
It was a far cry from the successful, urbane image he projected even as he exaggerated cancer symptoms and cavalierly carried out mastectomies when much less invasive surgery – and, in some cases, a simple course of antibiotics – would have sufficed.
Greed was a motive but, drilling down, there was more to it than that. Colleagues have spoken of how Paterson had an “impatient, arrogant” manner in theatre. He prided himself on performing operations at an almost careless speed, yet also had a twisted compulsion to be treated as a lifesaver by patients and feted by their families.
The stories are heartbreaking; Diane Green lost her home, her marriage, her health and her job after Paterson decreed she should have not just one but two unnecessary double mastectomies, after there were complications with her reconstructed breasts.
The operations resulted in a muscle wasting disorder and she was left infertile. Due to the strain, her marriage broke down.
Paterson worked at Solihull Hospital and the private Spire Hospitals in Little Aston and Solihull and was a skilled selfpublicist.
So much so that when she underwent treatment, Debbie Douglas told friends and family she was lucky to have private health care because Paterson was “the best”.
Later, she learned her scars weren’t a badge of honour from surviving cancer, they were evidence of mutilation by a dangerous Jekyll and Hyde character displaying psychopathic tendencies. He deliberately harmed his patients, put them through unlicensed procedures, needless chemotherapy, radiotherapy and, all the while, instilled in them a terrible fear that their cancer could return.
Jade Edgington was just 16 when she first went under Ian Paterson’s knife. She and her parents were taken in by his charming manner, but doctors have since told her that the operation, and three subsequent surgical procedures, were all totally unnecessary.
“I feel violated and I’m physically and emotionally scarred by what I went through,” she told the media. “Why did this happen?”
That is something we may never know unless Paterson tells us, and so far he hasn’t deigned to do so. We must concentrate our efforts instead on the “how?” How could he get away with his barbarism for so long?
He began work at Solihull, part of the Heart of England NHS Trust, in 1998. By 2003, a fellow clinician had raised concerns about the substandard quality of his surgery, but those concerns were seemingly swept under the carpet.
Paterson continued to work, unchallenged, until 2007 when a newly appointed surgeon raised the alarm about his mastectomy “technique”, which placed patients at high risk of secondary cancer.
Various patients were recalled, and Paterson was banned from performing his version of the procedure, but wasn’t suspended from the trust until 2011, by which time increasing numbers of anxious former patients had come forward.
In 2012, he was suspended by the General Medical Council and the police launched an investigation.
So far, the Heart of England Trust has paid out £17.8million in damages and costs to 256 patients, and around 350 patients are now seeking compensation. It is believed the final tally of victims could reach thousands.
Tragically, many of those operated on by Paterson have died and, although it has not been confirmed if his actions contributed to their deaths, their loved ones must be in a state of shock.
As always, spokespeople trot out the requisite platitudes: “lessons must be learned”, “measures put in place” and “leadership issues examined”. I sincerely hope that all these things are “fully implemented”, whatever on earth they are.
In layman’s term, this must never, ever be allowed to happen again. Lives have been destroyed, and no amount of compensation can make up for the anguish, distress and horror caused to these women, and the one man who also underwent unnecessary breast surgery.
Whom can we rely on, if not the medical profession? Whom can we trust, if not the surgeon about to cut into our flesh?
Ian Paterson could well be released in seven years. It is his blameless victims who carry a life sentence.
‘He had a twisted compulsion to be seen as a lifesaver by patients and families’