Seven new inquests opened in rogue surgeon probe

Paterson was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent in 2017 and was jailed for 20 years

A further seven inquests have been opened into patients treated by the rogue breast surgeon, Ian Paterson.

The deaths of 650 patients who were under his care are currently being investigated by coroners in Birmingham.

Paterson is currently serving a 20-year jail term for wounding with intent after carrying out unnecessary breast procedures.

A 2020 independent inquiry ruled "a culture of avoidance and denial" left him free to perform botched operations in NHS and private hospitals in Birmingham and Solihull.

Dating back to 2020, coroners have now opened 27 inquests.

These are cases where coroners "believe there is evidence to have reason to suspect that some of those deaths may be unnatural".

Among those announced on 24 March in the latest tranche of inquests is Shena Mason.

The 75-year-old died in January 2014, after tumours had returned to the site of her original breast cancer.

In the Sir Ian Kennedy, review into Paterson's NHS practice at Heart of England NHS Trust published in December 2013 - a month before her death, she said: "Some of us will always have rotten bad luck and carry on and the disease will develop, that is going to happen, but rotten bad luck is easier to live with than the thought that your surgeon may have damaged you.

"You have this gnawing suspicion that maybe if you had woken up with a nice flat chest the day after the operation, maybe you would be feeling well now, but I'm never going to know."

It will be left to Judge Richard Foster to conduct the investigations and inquests into her death and any other patients it is deemed likely may have died sooner than they should.

No date has been set for the final inquest into patients operated on by Paterson.

Debbie Douglas was instrumental in getting the independent inquiry into disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson established

The development has been welcomed by campaigners in the UK.

Debbie Douglas, one of Paterson's patients, told BBC Woman's Hour: "For me it's heart-breaking, I put the names of six friends before the inquiry and pushed for an inquest to be opened.

"It's sadness for the families but now they are getting a voice and being heard. Their deaths may have been unnecessary or not but they need to understand".

A report by the Heart of England Trust in 2017- the year he was jailed- found that 675 of Paterson's 1,206 mastectomy patients had died.

Paterson worked at Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull from 1997 to 2011

After his suspension in 2011, more than a decade on, some of the victims' families are still awaiting answers as H M Coroner of Birmingham and Solihull has confirmed "it is anticipated that further inquests will be opened in due course".

Shaun Lintern, the health editor for the Sunday said: "Spare a thought for the families involved in these cases because we're talking decades of torment for these families who want answers.

"For me, the coroners need to do a lot more in explaining exactly what they are doing, the cases they are looking at, why and what time-scale they are looking at."

Earlier this year, Spire Healthcare said: "Although we cannot put right the wrongs of the past, we are determined to do everything we can to support the victims of Ian Paterson including those he treated before Spire was in existence."

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which merged with Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust in 2018 has been contacted for comment.