{"id":98385,"date":"2025-10-23T03:42:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/98385\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T03:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:42:17","slug":"government-is-too-slow-to-act-over-rogue-surgeon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/98385\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Government is too slow to act over rogue surgeon’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joanne WrittleWest Midlands health correspondent<\/p>\n

\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

Debbie Douglas said she was campaigning for people “more vulnerable than me”<\/p>\n

A woman harmed by jailed surgeon Ian Paterson says the government is taking too long to bring in changes that could stop a similar case happening again.<\/p>\n

Debbie Douglas had a mastectomy and chemotherapy on Paterson’s orders after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 but later found out she could have simply had a lump removed.<\/p>\n

The disgraced surgeon was convicted of wounding patients through botched and unnecessary operations<\/a> and the government told the BBC most improvements had been brought in after an inquiry made recommendations<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n

But Ms Douglas, from Birmingham, said she felt it was taking too long over those changes remaining and ministers were “kicking the can along the road”.<\/p>\n

Among the changes still to be made is reforming the compensation system for patients if they were harmed.<\/p>\n

‘Renowned surgeon’<\/p>\n

When her diagnosis came, it was a year after losing her dad, John, to lung cancer and two years after her mum, Pat, died of oesophageal cancer.<\/p>\n

At the time, she reassured her daughter and two sons, then teenagers, that she had private health insurance through work.<\/p>\n

However she was treated by Paterson who would go on to be jailed for 20 years in 2017.<\/p>\n

“I felt absolutely lucky that I’ve got Paterson – he was the renowned surgeon in the area.,” Ms Douglas said.<\/p>\n

The majority of his patients lived in Birmingham, Warwickshire and Staffordshire.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jen Davies said there was “pure anger” after finding out her mother had undergone an unnecessary operation <\/p>\n

Her now 40-year-old daughter, Jen Davies, recalled: “She had said ‘I will get better. I’m not like your nan and grandad, it’s a different cancer. I’ve got this fantastic surgeon’.”<\/p>\n

Her mother went on to have a mastectomy and chemotherapy, later discovering she did not need them and could have had a lumpectomy instead.<\/p>\n

“It was horrendous to see my mum in a hospital bed with drains coming out of her and not being the mum that we knew,” her daughter said.<\/p>\n

“To think that she’d done all that just for nothing, it was just pure anger.”<\/p>\n

\"FamilyFamily picture<\/p>\n

Ms Douglas’ parents both died of cancer but she had assured her children in 2003 that her private healthcare would help her<\/p>\n

In 2020 an independent inquiry found<\/a> opportunities to stop Paterson were missed by the NHS and private sector.<\/p>\n

The Bishop of Norwich presented findings of an inquiry, including 15 recommendations<\/a> to ensure the harm the disgraced surgeon caused could not be repeated.<\/p>\n

The government said most recommendations were met but Ms Douglas said progress was slow.<\/p>\n

Among those recommendations which a spokesperson for the Department of Health (DoH) said were “subject to ongoing action” was reforming the compensation system for patients if they were harmed.<\/p>\n

In July, the government said<\/a> they were continuing to work on reforming clinical negligence cover system including cover for criminal acts.<\/p>\n

“It’s just another little step to say we’re doing something,” Ms Douglas said.<\/p>\n

“But again, it’s another little step to say we’re kicking the can along the road, we didn’t bite the bullet, we haven’t sorted it.”<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

Ian Paterson was jailed in 2017 for 20 years<\/p>\n

Paterson worked at the then Heart of England NHS Trust, which covered Birmingham and Solihull, and also at Spire Little Aston.<\/p>\n

Spire Healthcare set up a fund to compensate his victims in 2017 before renewing it with a new fund in 2021 which is still ongoing.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the company said it had always supported the inquiry recommendations and had introduced the one relating to Spire.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, an NHS database on consultants’ performance, the National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP), is online but, despite recommendations, only medics can access it, not patients.<\/p>\n

Ms Douglas said: “You can see the whole performance of that consultant. Paterson or any other consultant that was falling outside the normal guidelines would be picked up straight away.”<\/p>\n

She added she was campaigning for people “more vulnerable than me”.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the DoH said the safety of all patients was a “top priority”.<\/p>\n

“We are working urgently to implement the minority of remaining Paterson recommendations and will put patient safety at the heart of our 10 Year Plan for Health,” they added.<\/p>\n

The Independent Healthcare Providers Network represent private healthcare providers like Spire.<\/p>\n

Since the review’s report, a spokesperson said independent healthcare providers had taken “clear steps” to improve the supervision of medics.<\/p>\n

“All doctors \u2013 regardless of whether they work in the NHS or independent sector – are legally obliged to have adequate and appropriate indemnity in place”, they added.<\/p>\n

“The sector is working closely with government as they roll out their new code of conduct for medical indemnifiers.”<\/p>\n

Dozens of inquests are ongoing at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court into the deaths of patients of Paterson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joanne WrittleWest Midlands health correspondent BBC Debbie Douglas said she was campaigning for people “more vulnerable than me”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-98385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}