Warnings about jailed surgeon Ian Paterson emerged before he joined Solihull Hospital, inquest hears

Warnings about jailed surgeon Ian Paterson were raised before a new consultant joined Solihull Hospital, an inquest has heard, as fresh evidence shed light on the difficulties faced by a colleague who later helped expose his malpractice.

Dr Hemant Ingle was appointed as a consultant breast surgeon at the hospital in late 2006, where Paterson was already working.

But before applying for the job, Ingle said he had been warned by several people that Paterson was difficult to work with.

One warning was particularly stark, with Ingle told that if a surgeon did not want his career ruined, he “better not apply there”.

Another surgeon had reportedly left after just six months.

Despite the warnings, the hospital’s clinical director, Misra Budhoo, assured Ingle that the difficulties working with Paterson had been resolved and encouraged him to apply.

When Ingle attempted to introduce himself to Paterson after joining the hospital, he said the surgeon walked away without speaking to him.

At his first multidisciplinary team meeting, where doctors discuss patients’ treatment, Paterson allegedly told him: “You shouldn’t have been appointed, we don’t need you.”

Ingle said he was completely taken aback.

Concerns grew over patients’ treatment

Within months of taking up the post, Ingle said he was becoming alarmed by some of the patients he encountered.

One was Marie Pinfield, a former West Midlands Police child protection officer who had undergone two double mastectomies performed by Paterson.

Ingle said he could not understand why Pinfield still had substantial breast tissue after the operations, explaining that a double mastectomy should leave a patient with a completely flat chest.

“This was not a mastectomy in my book,” he said.

Pinfield had complained about mounds of flesh remaining on her chest after the first operation. Paterson subsequently performed a second double mastectomy.

Ingle’s statement also described how Pinfield had repeatedly said she did not want breast reconstruction, but Paterson continued to insist that she should have a mastectomy and reconstruction.

It took three and a half months before Paterson accepted that she did not want reconstruction, according to the statement.

Ingle said the delay was particularly concerning because the hospital’s protocol required cancer operations to take place within four weeks.

Pinfield died in October 2008 after her cancer spread.

‘He didn’t want anyone rocking the boat’

Ingle said he reported concerns about patients to hospital management, but Paterson challenged him over doing so.

According to his statement, Paterson described the Solihull Breast Unit as “his baby” and said he “didn’t want anyone rocking the boat”.

Ingle recalled responding: “Where am I coming to disturb the boat? I’m here to help you.”

Paterson allegedly told him to discuss matters directly with him rather than taking them to management.

Ingle also raised concerns about the way multidisciplinary team meetings were conducted, claiming that proper discussions did not take place and that Paterson dictated decisions about patients’ treatment.

He said Paterson could become abusive if colleagues challenged him.

Inquests examine wider hospital failures

Paterson was jailed for 20 years in 2017 after being convicted of wounding patients through unnecessary and inappropriate operations.

The former consultant worked at Solihull Hospital and in the private sector, with his malpractice affecting more than 1,000 patients.

In 2020, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which now runs Solihull Hospital, acknowledged that many of Paterson’s NHS patients had received appalling treatment.

The current inquests are examining whether patients died unnatural deaths as a result of Paterson’s care, alongside wider questions about recruitment, supervision and how concerns raised about him were handled.

The investigation also covers whether hospital management and other organisations failed to respond adequately to warnings about his conduct and treatment of patients.

Ingle has since died, and his statement was read to the court as part of the ongoing proceedings.

The inquests into the deaths of 70 patients are expected to continue until spring 2028.