Whistleblower 'distressed' by Paterson surgery

A doctor who helped blow the whistle on disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson warned a hospital boss that "lawyers would have a field day" if Paterson's patients complained.

Dr Hemant Ingle, who worked at Solihull Hospital, wrote a letter to the hospital's clinical director Dr Misra Budhoo in 2007, regarding his distress at Paterson's treatment of Marie Pinfield.

Pinfield, who died of metastatic breast cancer in 2008 after it spread to her lungs, had asked for a bilateral mastectomy, to leave her with a completely flat chest.

However, after two mastectomies from Paterson, Pinfield was still left with B to C cup breasts.

An inquest into Pinfield's death is taking place this week, one of 68 which aim to determine whether former patients of Paterson died unnatural deaths because of his care.

The former surgeon is serving a 20-year jail term after being convicted of multiple counts of wounding in 2017 through botched and unnecessary operations on patients.

Warning: This article contains images of post-surgery scarring

On Tuesday, the inquest saw Ingle's letter to Budhoo, in which he said the results of Pinfield's surgery were "appalling".

He said he was sure that the two-month wait from diagnosis to her first mastectomy contributed to her cancer increasing from 3cm to 5.1cm (1.2 to 2 inches), asking: "Why was that allowed to happen?"

Ingle added: "I think delay in her surgery might have made an operable tumour a non-operable one."

After Pinfield's second mastectomy, Ingle said that Pinfield still had 200-300g (7-10.5 oz) of tissue on her left chest wall.

"From my training, this is not a mastectomy. I am not sure there is a name for this type of operation," he said.

In 2020, the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, which now runs Solihull Hospital, acknowledged "many of Paterson's patients received appalling treatment whilst under the care of the NHS".

In a plea to Budhoo at the end of the letter, Ingle said that he would not hand over his cases to Paterson, adding: "I would pose you just one question - would you like your relative to be treated as the above lady was treated, by Mr Paterson?"

He said he had raised his concerns to Budhoo previously and now left further action in Budhoo's hands.

"I seem to have been trapped now; damned if I report something but damned if I don't report the obvious," he said.

"I will also be condemned with the others. I hope you can prevent this from happening."

Ingle had requested medical photographs of Pinfield as he was concerned about her treatment at the hands of Paterson. The following image is one of those photos:

In his letter in 2007, Ingle said he would undertake a third mastectomy on Pinfield, "just to salvage the situation".

"I am reminded of a comment made by [Dr Balapathiran Balasubramanian] after I joined the trust," he said.

"Ours must be the only trust in whole UK where a mastectomy is done three times on the same side on the same patient."

Balasubramanian, a surgeon who had previously worked with Paterson, gave evidence at the inquest on Tuesday.

He disputed making that comment, saying those were not his words.

The inquest also saw an excerpt from Ingle's police statement, in which he said multidisciplinary meetings at the hospital were "completely dysfunctional" and "an opportunity for Ian Paterson to tell everyone what to do".

He further alleged that Paterson and Balasubramanian did not comment on each other's cases.

Balasubramanian disputed this, saying Ingle's claim was "very untrue".

Paterson also gave evidence to the inquest via video link, claiming Pinfield was aware that she would have cleavage after her operations and it was planned pre-operatively.

"The procedure worked fine," he said.

Regarding the first mastectomy, he said the operation reduced her breast size from an HH cup to a C cup.

"[It was] something she wasn't happy with; she was too big, so I offered to reduce it further," he added.

The inquest continues.

The coroner also opened a new inquest on Tuesday, bringing the total number of Paterson patients whose deaths are being investigated to 68.

Karen Stone, from Solihull, died on 18 February 2025 of metastatic breast cancer, aged 76. She was retired and had been married to Jeffrey Stone.

Opening and adjourning the inquest, the coroner said he had reason to believe her death was caused by or had been contributed to by substandard treatment, giving reason to suspect her death was unnatural.

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