February 2020. The rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson subjected more than 1,000 patients to unnecessary and damaging operations over 14 years before he was stopped, an independent inquiry has found. Paterson was free to perform harmful surgery on mainly female patients in NHS and private hospitals because of “a culture of avoidance and denial” in a “dysfunctional” healthcare system where there was “wilful blindness” to his behaviour. The inquiry found that victims were “lied to, deceived and exploited” by Paterson, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence imposed in 2017 for wounding with intent and unlawfully wounding nine women and one man whom he treated between 1997 and 2011. A scathing report by the inquiry into Paterson said his victims “were let down time and time again”, first by him, then by the hospitals where he worked and then – once the harm they had suffered was known – by healthcare regulators who treated them with disdain. An array of “individuals, organisations and institutions … should have kept patients safe but failed to do so”, it concluded. The inquiry, chaired by the Rt Rev Graham James, a former bishop of Norwich, called on ministers, NHS bosses and the private healthcare industry to introduce a series of measures to reduce the risk that another health professional could inflict such life-changing harm on a patient. All 11,000 patients whom Paterson treated, either in the NHS or private settings, should be recalled by whichever hospital treated them so they can be reviewed, James recommended. Scores of patients who gave evidence to the inquiry vividly described their suffering at the surgeon’s hands and failures by individuals and institutions to protect them. Their testimony, detailed in 87 of the report’s 232 pages, makes clear the “devastating consequences” for their physical and mental health. “The scale of what happened; the length of time this malpractice went on; the terrible legacy for so many families: it is difficult to exaggerate the damage done, including to trust in medical organisations and clinicians,” James said.
Feb 2020. The Ian Paterson Inquiry
