Hundreds of jailed surgeon’s patients yet to be reached as ministers fail to act on inquiry report

Hundreds of private hospital patients who were operated on by the surgeon Ian Paterson have yet to be traced, as victims mark a year since an independent inquiry into the scandal.

Paterson was jailed for 20 years in 2017 after being found guilty of wounding with intent after carrying out unnecessary surgery on thousands of women over 14 years.

Spire Healthcare wrote to 5,500 former patients of Paterson last year as part of a recall recommended by the inquiry led by the former Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend Graham James.

It confirmed to The Independent that several hundred patients had yet to be reached.  

Around 6,500 patients who were seen by Paterson between 1993 and 2011 have been contacted. NHS hospitals in the midlands have also carried out a separate recall of the surgeon’s NHS patients. In total around 11,000 patients may need to be reviewed.

The inquiry, which reported on 4 February last year, revealed the surgeon was “hiding in plain sight” for years and allowed to harm hundreds of women because of a healthcare system that was “dysfunctional at almost every level”.

Since the inquiry and during the coronavirus pandemic private hospitals have been paid more than £1.5bn to support the NHS and stand to make millions more in coming years as the NHS tries to tackle the backlog in surgery caused by the virus.

Paterson carried out unapproved surgery known as “cleavage-sparing” mastectomies which left behind breast tissue in some cancer patients. He also subjected patients to unnecessary tests and procedures.

A year on from the damning report, which called for major changes to improve the safety of patients in private hospitals, the government has yet to respond to any of its recommendations.

One of Paterson’s victims, Deborah Douglas, who runs a support group for women in the midlands and campaigned for the inquiry, said it was unacceptable that no action had been taken.

She warned some of the more than 200 patients who had yet to be reached may have died while others would need monitoring to ensure their cancer did not return.

She added: “We are talking about a small number of very important recommendations. Just 12 actions were for the government and after a year they can’t even come up with a plan and the action they are going to take.

“I am sorry that’s just not good enough.”

She added that many patients going into private hospitals were still at risk from what is known as practising privileges where private surgeons act as freelance clinicians effectively “renting” space from private providers.

Paterson used this system to avoid scrutiny and when his behaviour was uncovered patients struggled to get compensation.

“The consultants need to be made employees. They need to be accountable to the organisation they are working for,” Ms Douglas said, adding: “The government need to show us their actions and the timescales.”

Cheryl Iommi, 54, had three lumpectomies performed by Paterson after he told her she was going to get cancer. When she went under the knife to have the lump in her right breast removed, she woke up from the operation to find Paterson had taken a chunk out of her left breast as well, claiming he’d found a second lump.

She said: “Every time I look in the mirror, I think of him. I already lacked confidence in how I looked and now I am left with this big indent along the side of my breast for no reason whatsoever. I can still hear his voice clear as day telling me I was going to get cancer.

“As it stands, until the government take action, there is no way of stopping anyone as criminally minded as Paterson from doing something like this again and exploiting the same loopholes. This should never be forgotten and, at the very least, there should be lessons learned from it, but it feels like the waiting for change, any change, is never ending.”

Senior coroners in Birmingham have launched inquests into 23 of Paterson’s deceased patients at the request of West Midlands Police. The coroners said they believed the deaths “may have been caused or contributed to by acts or omissions” by Paterson and other clinicians.

Linda Millband - lead for clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors - who led court action against Paterson on behalf of 650 of his patients, said the coronavirus epidemic should not be an excuse to prevent action.

She said: “Paterson took advantage of a system that was open to abuse. He got away with so much for so long because of the UK’s private healthcare system’s inadequate audit process and failure to appraise surgeons at hospitals where they are contracted, rather than employed.

“The pandemic has led to enough heartache and death and cannot be used as an excuse to cause yet more through a failure to implement very clear recommendations now 12 months old. Without fundamental reforms, suggested by an independent inquiry, we face the very real prospect of history repeating itself.”

A spokesman for Spire Healthcare, said: “We are determined to do everything we can to support those patients who suffered at the hands of Ian Paterson. In line with the inquiry’s recommendations, last autumn we contacted all known living patients of Paterson to offer them assistance or discuss their concerns. A number of patients have taken up our offer of support, and are receiving advice from our team of expert clinicians.

“Our dedicated freephone patient helpline (0800 085 8130) and email (spirehealthcarehelplineianpaterson@spirehealthcare.com ) is open to any former patient of Ian Paterson who would like support.”

The patient safety minister Nadine Dorries has said the government will respond to the inquiry in coming weeks.