Victims Of ‘Rogue Surgeon’ Will Receive Settlement After Spire Healthcare Agrees To Provide £27.2 To Fund

A fund has been agreed to provide settlements for the victims of breast surgeon Ian Paterson who was found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent earlier this year.

Spire Healthcare has recently announced that it is putting aside £27.2m with Mr Paterson’s insurers and the Heart of England NHS Trust also providing £10m towards the fund. Approximately 750 patients are believed to be affected.

Irwin Mitchell has represented more than 30 of his victims who were treated both under the NHS or privately via a Spire Healthcare facility.

Expert Opinion

This fund will provide for Mr Paterson’s victims who will have to live with what happened to them forever. The settlement will go towards the long term costs of therapy and ongoing treatment to help them try to move forward with their lives.

“However there are still questions regarding the redress that private healthcare patients have if they are the victims of negligent medical treatment. While Spire in this case has set aside a significant sum, it is likely to be less than the amount that the patients affected need. There are also other medical negligence victims who have found that indemnity insurance does not cover their private doctor when things have gone wrong. This is still a grey area and many people wrongly believe they will be better protected under private care than under the NHS.

“The issue of exactly how much responsibility private hospitals have for the misdeeds of medical practitioners who use their facilities is not yet determined and we are pleased therefore on behalf of our clients that Spire has today accepted that ‘better’ clinical governance might have led to ‘action being taken sooner’. But that is little comfort for Mr Paterson’s victims.” Sallie Booth - Partner

Read more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in Group Claims.