Disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson struck off for deliberately wounding patients
Breast surgeon Ian Paterson has been struck off after he left hundreds of patients scarred and disfigured by carrying out needless operations for more than a decade.
The 59-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison in May after he was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding against 10 patients.
He was employed by the NHS and also worked at private hospitals operated by Spire Healthcare at Solihull and Little Aston in the West Midlands.
The trial in May heard how the rogue surgeon, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, carried out the operations for 'obscure motives' which may have included a desire to 'earn extra money'.
Our reporter Stacey Foster was at the Medical Practitioners' hearing in Manchester on Tuesday:
Lisa Lloyd, from Redditch, went to see Paterson back in 2007. At this point he was being investigated, but Lisa did not know that at the time.
He carried out two operations on her, one of which was unnecessary. It left her unable to breastfeed her two daughters.
Paterson also wanted to carry out another operation on Lisa when she was 22 weeks pregnant with her second child.
When the news broke that Paterson had been carrying out unnecessary operations, Lisa defended him as she said at the time, she trusted him.
Now, she can’t believe it has taken such a long for him to be struck off.
The NHS has already paid out nearly £18 million after settling the cases of more than 250 patients.
Charlie Massey, Chief Executive of the General Medical Council, said they were only alerted to what Paterson was doing when a patient came forward. The investigation began in 2010.
The General Medical Council tweeted the following reaction to today's hearing:
Many of Paterson’s patients believe his sentence of 15 years was too lenient.
Last week, an appeal was made against his sentence. A statement said the Solicitor General had referred the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal.
The case is due to be heard on 3rd August.
The day before he was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court back in May, ITV challenged Mr Paterson about his crimes. He refused to answer any questions.
The General Medical Council has confirmed it is now investigating a number of other individuals in relation to Ian Paterson’s crimes.
Charlie Massey, Chief Executive, refused to comment on the number of investigations currently active in relation to the case but said he would leave “no stone unturned” in order to get closure for patients.