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Plans for further compensation after more patients of rogue breast surgeon identified.

 

A healthcare provider will offer compensation to thousands more victims of breast surgeon Ian Paterson.

Paterson was jailed in 2017 after he was found to have carried out scores of needless operations on his patients.

An inquiry recommended all of his patients be recalled, and 750 victims have already been awarded compensation.

Spire Healthcare in the West Midlands, where Paterson practiced, has now proposed a new compensation fund after further victims were identified.

The firm has also appeared in court to repeal an order that prevented lawyers who had previously acted for victims to pursue further claims against it.

The order was made in 2018, before a further 5,500 patients were recalled following the independent inquiry, meaning solicitors experienced in the case were unavailable to victims, some of whom did not previously know their surgery had been unnecessary.

Paterson is currently serving a 20-year sentence following his conviction for 17 counts of wounding with intent.

His unregulated, "cleavage-sparing" mastectomies, in which breast tissue was left behind, meant cancer returned in many of his patients, and some had the operations despite not having the disease.

He was employed by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, and at independent Spire Parkway, Solihull, and Spire Little Aston in Birmingham, with more than 11,000 patients across the sites.

An independent review called for all of them to be contacted, and Spire wrote to at least 5,500 patients who were treated by Paterson at their centres.

The private healthcare provider said its review was continuing, but it had already identified more former patients harmed by Paterson.

A spokesperson said: "Patients who suffered at the hands of Ian Paterson must not be prevented from seeking compensation."