A report warning about the dangers of a breast cancer operation was ignored by a NHS trust as a surgeon continued to use it for four years.
The Guardian report:
An NHS Trust was warned in an internal report about the dangers of a controversial breast cancer procedure almost four years before it banned a “rogue” surgeon from continuing to use it.
The confidential report obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act reveals that senior management at the Heart of England NHS trust were alerted to a mastectomy technique being used by its staff, which could increase the risk of breast cancer returning.
The technique was at the time being used by a breast cancer specialist, Ian Stuart Paterson, who is currently being investigated by West Midlands police for allegedly performing unnecessary or inappropriate surgeries on thousands of women. He is also suspected of charging insurance companies for procedures he did not perform.