Ian Paterson: Inquests open into deaths of women operated on by rogue breast surgeon

Inquests have opened into the deaths of four patients of the disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson.

Paterson was jailed in 2017 for 20 years for carrying out unnecessary operations, including mastectomies that were not needed.

The inquests will examine whether breast cancer patients he treated died unnaturally as a result of his actions.

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A report published in February found that he carried out unnecessary or unsafe procedures on more than 1,000 patients over more than a decade at Spire Hospitals in the West Midlands and the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

The independent review concluded Paterson's victims were failed by "a healthcare system that proved itself dysfunctional at almost every level when it came to keeping patients safe".

Among the cases it examined were so-called "cleavage-sparing" mastectomies, an unregulated procedure that was carried out by Paterson.

Some patients believed all their breast tissue had been removed but later discovered it had not. In some cases the cancer returned.

Earlier this year West Midlands Police asked Birmingham and Solihull coroner Louise Hunt to investigate the deaths of a number of breast cancer patients of Paterson.

Following preliminary investigations Ms Hunt, along with Area Coroner Emma Brown, said they believed there was reason to suspect that the deaths of four of the patients may have been unnatural.

Those patients were Deborah Kim Hynes, a mother of two from Sutton Coldfield, who died aged 51 in 2013; Yvonne Mary Cordon, who died in 2000 in Birmingham aged 39; Shionagh Helen Douglas Gough, who died in Solihull in 2006 aged 76; and Marie Susan Elizabeth Pinfield, a police officer from Solihull, who died aged 50 in 2008.

Opening the inquests into their deaths the coroner said hearings will seek to establish whether "acts or omissions" by Paterson and potentially other clinicians caused or contributed to their deaths.

In addition, the inquests will examine whether there were systemic failings by hospital management in dealing with concerns raised about Paterson and whether there were failings in culture in addressing or preventing substandard treatment.

The coroner said she would also consider whether there was inaction or failure by regulators including the Care Quality Commission, the General Medial Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Investigations are still ongoing into the deaths of the other patients and it is anticipated that further inquests will be opened in the coming months.