Ian Paterson: More inquests into deaths of breast surgeon's patients

The Court of Appeal increased Paterson's prison sentence to 20 years

Thirteen inquests have been opened into the deaths of former patients of disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson.

He was jailed in 2017 after being found to have carried out needless operations on patients across Birmingham and Solihull.

More than 1,000 NHS and private healthcare patients were affected over a 14-year period, an inquiry found.

The coroner pledged her hearings would consider whether Paterson's colleagues had been lacking in scrutiny of him.

Birmingham and Solihull senior coroner Louise Hunt adjourned the proceedings on Friday.

Paterson was employed by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and also operated on patients of the independent Spire Parkway, Solihull, and Spire Little Aston hospitals.

But he was found to have carried out unapproved "cleavage-sparing" mastectomies on patients which left behind breast tissue, risking a return of cancer.

The surgeon, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, was initially imprisoned for 15 years over 17 counts of wounding with intent before the Court of Appeal increased his term to a 20-year sentence in August 2017.

In 2020, West Midlands Police requested the deaths of 23 randomly-selected patients be examined by coroner Ms Hunt to decide whether any could be linked to "potentially substandard treatment".

Seven of those inquests were opened and adjourned in July 2020.

Ian Paterson carried out hundreds of needless operations

The 13 inquests opened and adjourned at Birmingham Coroner's Court on Friday go beyond that original selection of cases.

Ms Hunt told the hearing she did have reason to believe each death was caused or contributed to by "substandard treatment provided by Mr Paterson and other clinicians involved in the care of the deceased".

The court heard that future inquests would consider "any failings in supervision" of Paterson, including that by "clinical colleagues" and whether they "should have informed the appropriate authorities".

Eunice Jones was 47 years old when she died of breast cancer at Solihull Hospital in 2004

The hearing learned evidence would also examine whether there were "systemic failings by hospital management... in addressing and responding to concerns raised about Mr Paterson".

"Any inaction or failure of supervision by the regulatory agencies... any failings in the culture at the hospitals where Mr Paterson worked (and)... any failings in the recall system of patients," would also be probed, Ms Hunt said.

She explained the inquests had been adjourned "pending the review of all the other cases", after which there would be a pre-inquest review.

Matthew Jones, son of Eunice Jones who died of breast cancer in Solihull in 2004, told BBC News he felt several emotions over subsequent investigation into his mother's death.

"There's one thing accepting your loved one has died naturally - it's tragic but natural, despite her young age," he said.

"But the possibility that she'd be here today if it wasn't for Mr Paterson is, well, there's all kind of emotions - anger, at the moment, it's probably anger."

Inquests opened and adjourned on Friday:

• Catherine Coyne, 51, who was a married, retired data protection officer from Solihull. She died of cancer at her home in Hampton Coppice in February 2008.

• Eunice Jones - known as Pam - was a 47-year-old married woman from Knowle, Solihull, who died of breast cancer at Solihull Hospital in 2004.

• Rosemarie Blake, a married care assistant from Erdington, Birmingham, was 56 when she died of cancer in 1997 at Good Hope Hospital.

• Elaine Turbill, a married, retired legal secretary of Castle Bromwich, Solihull, was 63 when she died of breast cancer at her home in 2017.

• Pauline Clarke of Solihull died at home in June 1998. She was a married, retired midwifery nurse and died of breast cancer.

• Virginia Holder of Birmingham was a widowed, retired assembly worker. In 2001, she died in hospital, aged 72, from breast cancer.

• Phyllis Colfer of Birmingham was a retired traffic warden. She died at a nursing home as a result of cancer in 2002. She was 67.

• Christine Skelcher, of Shard End, Birmingham, and a married office clerk, was 59 when she died at home in 2004 from breast cancer.

• Olive Bayliss of Birmingham was a married, retired cleaner. She was 75 when she died at a Marie Curie Hospice in Birmingham in 2001 from breast cancer.

• Isobel Chandler, from Solihull, was a married secretary and 51 years old when she died at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, in 2001. Her cause of death was given as metastatic breast cancer.

• Married Christine Hill of Solihull was 81 when she died at home in 2010, also of metastatic breast cancer.

• Jean Bonehill, of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, was a retired office clerk who died of breast cancer, aged 72, at her home in August 1998. Coroner Louise Hunt made a public appeal for Ms Bonehill's family to make contact with her office, after exhaustive efforts to trace her next of kin had failed.

• Deborah Preston, of Acocks Green, Birmingham, was 42 and married when she died of breast cancer at Heartlands Hospital in 2004.