A doctor who worked at the same UK private healthcare firm as the rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson has been accused of subjecting scores of his patients to unnecessary operations that left many in pain, traumatised and unable to work. The Guardian reports that Michael Walsh, a shoulder surgeon, was sacked by Spire Healthcare, which reported him to the General Medical Council (GMC) after numerous patients and some of his colleagues raised concerns about his work. An investigation it undertook uncovered examples of Walsh harming patients by performing surgery on them unnecessarily or badly.
The firm is quoted in the report as saying it had recalled almost 200 people he had treated and identified almost 50 it believed he might have harmed. Walsh has retired and is no longer licensed to practise as a doctor.
The report says Walsh is facing dozens of lawsuits from patients who claim that he performed surgery on them between 2012 and 2018 without any medical justification. Spire has offered its “sincere apologies to those patients who have been affected by the treatment they received from Mr Walsh”.
Peter Walsh, CEO of patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents, said: “It’s very disturbing to hear of so many patients who appear to have been harmed by this surgeon and about another rogue or incompetent surgeon working with Spire even after the Paterson case had been known about for years.”
[link url="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/16/michael-walsh-private-hospital-spire-ian-paterson"]Full report in The Guardian[/link]