Inquest opened into death of Portsmouth woman treated by rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson
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Paterson, who was jailed in 2017 for wounding patients, was found to have carried out unnecessary operations in NHS and private hospitals, exaggerating or inventing cancer risks and claiming payments for more expensive procedures.Today Birmingham and Solihull Coroner Emma Brown opened an inquest into the death of Portsmouth-born jewellery-maker Judith Bruce.
The 47-year-old, who moved to Chemsley Wood, Solihull, died at Good Hope Hospital on August 6, 2005. Her cause of death was given at the time as breast carcinoma with liver metastases.
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Hide AdInquests were also opened in the deaths of kitchen assistant Christine Gould, 56, and housewife Lindsey Phipps, 57.Coroner Brown said that she had reason to believe three further deaths ‘may have been caused or contributed to by acts or omissions in the treatment provided by Mr Paterson, and potentially by other clinicians involved in the care’.
Four inquests linked to the Birmingham and Solihull coroner’s preliminary investigations into patients of Paterson were opened and adjourned earlier this month.
He was employed by Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) but had practising privileges in the independent sector at Spire Parkway and Spire Little Aston in Birmingham.
He was jailed in 2017 after being found guilty of 17 counts of wounding patients with intent, against 10 victims.
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Hide AdHe was handed a 15-year prison term, but Court of Appeal judges later increased his tariff to 20 years.
In September 2017, more than 750 patients treated by Paterson received compensation payouts from a £37m fund.
The independent Paterson Inquiry into the issues raised, published in February, found that many of Glasgow-born Paterson’s patients were ‘lied to, deceived or exploited’, though the consultant maintains his innocence.
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The inquiry, chaired by retired Bishop of Norwich the Rt Rev Graham James, said the surgeon was able to go on performing unnecessary operations for years amid a ‘dysfunctional’ healthcare system that failed patients.
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Hide AdHe added that there were ‘missed opportunities’ to stop Paterson, describing the failure to suspend him in 2003, when an NHS colleague first raised concerns, as ‘inexplicable’.
The inquiry was presented with NHS figures showing that of Paterson’s 1,206 mastectomy patients, 675 had died by 2017.
The coroner’s office is still carrying out investigations into those cases, after being asked by West Midlands Police in January to examine a sample of 23 deaths of former Paterson patients.
Ms Brown said a pre-inquest review hearing would be fixed in due course once the total number of inquests is known.