Spire Healthcare, a British company that runs private hospitals in the UK, is now recalling another 1 500 patients of former breast surgeon Ian Paterson, who had treated thousands of its patients and who was imprisoned for 20 years for unnecessary operations.
Spire said the patients were being called back after a massive trawl of legacy IT systems so that their treatments could be investigated.
Paterson was jailed in 2017 for 17 counts of wounding people with intent, reports The Independent.
More than 1 000 patients endured unnecessary and damaging operations over 14 years, with a 2020 independent inquiry ruling he was free to perform harmful surgery 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 said all 11 000 patients Paterson treated should be recalled for review.
Between 1997 and 2011, he treated thousands of patients at Spire Parkway Hospital and Spire Little Aston Hospital in the West Midlands – alongside his work at NHS hospitals run by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.
A statement from Spire said: “Having contacted 5 500 patients of Ian Paterson over the past two years to check their care has been reviewed, Spire Healthcare is contacting a further group of patients…following a further complex analysis of legacy systems, Spire was able to identify the details of around 1 500 patients.”
These patients will be “offered a review of the treatment they received” by Paterson, as well as support.
Linda Millband, head of clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors, which has represented hundreds of Paterson’s clients, said: “We are years on from Paterson … being convicted – yet here we have another patient recall by Spire Healthcare.
“That 1 500 patients could have been missed off previous recalls shows how extensively Spire enabled Paterson to practice.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
UK govt accused of inaction following inquiry into unnecessary surgery
Another Spire Healthcare doctor accused of unnecessary operations
Culture of ‘avoidance and denial’ facilitated unnecessary operations – inquiry