Ian Paterson: Birmingham coroner to review breast cancer deaths

Paterson is serving a 20-year sentence for wounding patients he treated in the West Midlands

The deaths of 23 breast cancer patients who had been treated by a disgraced surgeon are being reviewed.

West Midlands Police has asked Birmingham and Solihull coroner Louise Hunt to look at a "random selection" of cases involving Ian Paterson.

In 2017, he was jailed for 20 years for carrying out unnecessary cancer operations at Spire hospitals.

The review is looking at whether any patients died of unnatural causes due to "potentially substandard treatment".

Paterson, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, treated hundreds of patients in the private sector at Little Aston and Parkway Hospitals in the West Midlands, run by Spire Healthcare.

He was jailed after being found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent.

In December, victims said a delay into the findings of an independent inquiry into the breast surgeon were "disappointing and difficult".

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The coroner said 23 cases had been "selected at random to investigate in more detail to try to understand whether the required legal threshold will be met".

"The preliminary investigation is to identify whether there is any evidence that gives reason to suspect that any of the former patients of Mr Paterson have died an unnatural death as a result of his potentially substandard treatment," a statement said.

It said the preliminary investigations "will take some time due to the volume of patients and complexity of the cases".

The coroner and police are trying to locate the families of those selected.

"We understand that this will cause anxiety for a lot of families and we would ask at this stage that families do not contact us," the statement said.