Streeting strips jailed breast cancer surgeon of £1m pension pot

The Health Secretary is to strip a disgraced breast surgeon of his £1 million pension pot.

Ian Paterson is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found to have carried out unnecessary and unapproved procedures on more than 1,000 breast cancer patients over a period of some 14 years.

Inquests into the deaths of 62 patients who were treated by Paterson are to open this month, with another 20 opening later.

According to The Sunday Times, Wes Streeting has decided to remove Paterson’s taxpayer-funded pension under rules that allow NHS benefits to be forfeited in the case of criminal, negligent or fraudulent acts.

The newspaper reported that the Secretary of State must authorise the decision and, to qualify, the offences must be considered so serious as to lead to a “serious loss of confidence in the public service” or to have been “gravely injurious to the state”.

Paterson, 64, was employed by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and practised in the independent sector at Spire Parkway and Spire Little Aston in Birmingham.

He was jailed in 2017 after being convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding relating to unnecessary operations performed on 10 patients between 1997 and 2011.

An independent inquiry, chaired by former Bishop of Norwich, the Right Rev Graham James, ruled in February 2020 that Paterson had carried out hundreds of unnecessary operations on scores of patients, exaggerating or inventing cancer risks.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “These were appalling crimes and we are assisting His Majesty’s Coroner with the inquests concerning the tragic deaths of patients previously treated by Ian Paterson. We offer our sincere condolences to the families.

“Cases like this are fortunately rare, but this Government will prioritise patient safety to ensure everyone receives the high-quality, safe treatment they deserve.

“We understand families’ frustration and recognise that significant improvements to patient safety are required.

“This Government is working urgently to ensure all lessons from this terrible case are being learned.”