County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust previously said it did not know the identity of ‘Mr Irfan’, who was recorded as assisting with a woman’s breast cancer surgery in 2017.
But chief executive Steve Russell told Durham County Council’s Adult, Wellbeing and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Friday (October 16) that the trust now knows who he is.
It follows an investigation by The Northern Echo after a County Durham breast cancer patient discovered ‘Mr Irfan’ listed as assisting with her surgery in 2017.
The woman, who does not wish to be named, said she could not remember meeting him and was unable to establish who he was.
She previously said: “I was just stunned. I had never spoken to this person or know who he is and no one I asked could give me answers.”
Responding to a question from Cllr Mark Wilkes, Mr Russell said: “We’d met with some women the previous week [before speaking to The Northern Echo], who raised this issue and we agreed to look into it, which is what we’re in the process of doing.
“So we’ve identified the colleague. He was working at a local registrar trust, he worked there for a period of time.
“He’s actually a member of the Association of Breast Surgeons, so he was training, which is not unusual.”
Chief executive of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Steve Russell (Image: Chris Booth)
Mr Russell also addressed questions surrounding HCM Medics Ltd, a company registered under the name of a ‘Mr Irfan’ which previously had an address at the doctors’ accommodation block on the University Hospital of North Durham site.
He told councillors: “In terms of the company that was registered, we’ve never paid any money to that company directly.”
Speaking to The Northern Echo following the meeting, Mr Russell said the trust had “not identified any concerns,” with Mr Irfan.
“We were trying to identify information about when he was working in the trust, what role he played and we have nearly completed that,” Mr Russell said.
“We haven’t completed that. It won’t be very long.”
A Durham County Council meeting was told that Mr Irfan had been identified by county NHS board members. (R-L): Gill Hunt, chief nurse; Steve Russell, chief executive; Kelly Angus, deputy chief executive. (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
The questions emerged amid wider scrutiny of breast cancer care at the trust.
Former breast surgery lead Amir Bhatti was barred from carrying out surgery in February 2025, however he is on sick leave and remains employed on full pay.
An independent review led by governance expert Mary Aubrey identified a decade of missed warnings, ignored red flags and ‘systemic failures’, initially finding that 51 women had been harmed.
The trust has since found that hundreds of patients were harmed, including 20 women who underwent unnecessary mastectomies.
The trust board agreed last month to extend its patient review, which currently covers January 2023 to February 2025.
The review will then examine cases from 2022 and work backwards year by year to 2015, potentially covering around 4,500 women.
Documents suggest the review could take five years, meaning some women treated in 2015 may wait until 2031 for their cases to be examined.