In his report, the coroner said guidelines stated that patients with high risk squamous cell carcinoma should be referred to a specialist team, which should have occurred after the skin cancer was removed.
The guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care (Nice) is treated as mandatory in the NHS, but use of the guidance privately was “less clear”, the coroner added.
“The consequence is that patients treated privately are at risk of receiving inferior care to those treated under the NHS, often within the same physical hospital setting,” he added.
The report has been sent to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Royal College of Surgeons, who must reply by 3 June setting out what they intend to do to prevent future deaths.
A spokesperson for the Royal College of Surgeons said it recognised the coroner had raised concern about standards for patients treated privately, adding: “It is absolutely vital that private providers and the wider healthcare sector learn from the coroner’s findings to help ensure safe, high quality care for all patients.”
The CQC has also been approached for comment.