Not all Spire patients treated by Paterson were reviewed, claims report

Not all of Spire Healthcare’s patients that received treatment from disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson have been reviewed, an inquiry report on the case has claimed.

The Bishop of Norwich’s 232-page report, published last week (4 February) covers Paterson’s malpractice at three NHS hospitals in the West Midlands and Spire Healthcare’s Parkway and Little Aston hospitals.

The Inquiry team said it was not convinced all patients treated by Paterson had been recalled by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) and Spire.

It said that despite repeated assurances from both the Trust and Spire that all patients requiring a review had been recalled, almost a third of patients who gave evidence to the Inquiry said they had never received communication about recall, or attended an appointment.

The report added that these were evenly divided between those treated at Spire hospitals and those treated at the Trust.

211 patients and family members gave evidence in 172 sessions, and five gave written statements.

The report said: ‘We are not convinced that all patients who should have been recalled have been contacted. UHB has gone some way to rectifying this by reviewing all Paterson’s surviving mastectomy patients and providing them with ongoing care, where necessary. This has not been replicated by Spire.’

A spokesman for Spire Healthcare, said: ‘We strongly believe we contacted anyone who was impacted by Ian Paterson’s malpractice and offered them treatment plans where necessary. We will of course review this as requested by the inquiry.’

The report also found the recall processes of patients was generally inadequate, not-patient focused, and lacked transparency in both the NHS and independent sector.

‘Due consideration wasn’t given to patients’ emotional and psychological needs in either sector, and the particular needs of patients who were wrongly diagnosed with cancer by Paterson at Spire were ignored,’ it said.

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