Ian Paterson inquiry: Government apologises for failing to protect patients from rogue surgeon

Rebecca Speare-Cole4 February 2020

The Government has apologised for failing to protect patients from the malpractice of rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson over many years.

The rogue breast surgeon performed botched and unnecessary operations on hundreds of women in NHS and private hospitals, exaggerating or inventing cancer risks and claiming payments for more expensive procedures.

In 2017 he was jailed after being found guilty of 17 counts of wounding patients with intent, against 10 of his victims.

Following the publication of the independent inquiry chaired by the Rt Rev Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, Health Minister Nadine Dorries told MPs lessons will be learned
PA Wire/PA Images

The Paterson Inquiry, which was launched in May 2018, published 15 recommendations on Tuesday, after hearing 181 first-hand accounts from the surgeon’s former patients.

Ms Dorries acknowledged some of these "harrowing" and "appalling" testimonies in a statement to MPs on Wednesday.

She said: "As a result of these failures, patients suffered unnecessary harm. Their testimony in this report makes harrowing, appalling reading.

"As such, it is with deep regret that we acknowledge the failure of the entire healthcare system to protect patients from Ian Paterson's malpractice and to remedy the harms."

Conservative Nadine Dorries (file photo)
PA

Among the recommendations, the newly-published report urges both the NHS trust which employed Paterson and private health firm Spire Healthcare to check all Paterson’s patients had been recalled.

The Government should introduce reforms, including regulation of insurance protection for patients as a “nationwide safety net”, it said.

Ms Dorries said the Government acknowledged the report's recommendations will form a "route map for Government" to improve patient safety, and ministers will now study the report and provide a more detailed response to Parliament.

She added: "We must take full responsibility for what happened in the past if we are to provide reassurance to patients about their protection in the future.

Former breast surgeon Ian Paterson was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding
PA

"I am therefore very grateful that the suite of recommendations based on the patient journey present a route map for Government.

"The recommendations are extremely sensible and we will study them in detail. I can promise the House a full response in a few months' time."

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth welcomed the apology as he described the issues raised in the report as "shocking, serious, harrowing".

He said: "When we hand ourselves over or hand a loved one over to the care of a medical professional, we are literally trusting them with our lives. For that trust to be callously betrayed for financial gain, I believe is unforgivable and indeed as it has been found, criminal."

Tracey Smith and Debbie Douglas, two former patients of Ian Paterson, wait at home for news of his increased jail sentence
PA Archive/PA Images

He added: "Lessons must be learnt and changes made so something so heinous doesn't happen again."

He went on: "Fundamentally it's time we addressed the question of safety in private healthcare providers and the way in which clinicians are able to operate in private providers with little oversight."

It comes as Paterson insisted his innocence against all charges again, responding to the report's publication through a statement from his lawyer.

A statement issued by lawyers on Tuesday said: "Ian Paterson maintains his innocence of all of the criminal charges of which he was convicted and is actively working on an appeal against those convictions."

“Mr Paterson submitted a number of written representations to the Inquiry, headed by the Bishop of Norwich, and answered all questions put to him, as far as his current circumstances permitted him to do.

“Submissions were sent to the Inquiry raising concerns about possible bias within the Inquiry team, a matter which was also brought to the attention of the Inquiry by at least one independent witness.

"The report has now been published in any event, notwithstanding those submissions and evidence. Mr Paterson now intends to concentrate his efforts on proving his innocence."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in