Fears arose over surgeon's operations - inquest

A breast care nurse has told an inquest how concerns arose over surgery carried out by disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson as a mother-of-two prepared for a second operation.

Christine Baker died in 2015, aged 59, after her cancer returned following treatment by Paterson.

Retired nurse Alison Greenwood told Birmingham Coroner’s Court how “rumblings” arose over Paterson’s surgery in October 2007.

The inquest heard this was the same month Mrs Baker’s second operation was planned.

On Monday, the inquest heard Mrs Baker had a “skin-sparing” mastectomy in 2005, after being advised there was no additional risk to the reconstructive part of the procedure.

However, Mrs Baker, a Birmingham secondary school teacher who was born in Stoke-on-Trent and lived in Solihull, had a second mastectomy after her cancer returned in 2007.

The court previously heard her second cancer diagnosis came in July 2007.

Describing Paterson, Mrs Greenwood said: “He was charming. He was intelligent. He was charismatic. He was generally liked by patients. He was generally liked by nurses.”

Mrs Greenwood said he was confident and assertive in multi-disciplinary team meetings, but when he was not there, meetings were “more comfortable” and “less combative”, and he was rude to people at various times.

She said other consultants disagreed with him, adding: “He would disagree with Dr Stockdale and say I have removed all the breast tissue.”

Paterson referred to surgeon Andrew Stockdale as “Andy Pandy” to nurses, which she considered demeaning, she said.

The inquest previously heard Dr Stockdale raised concerns about the amount of residual tissue left behind in mastectomies at the Heart of England NHS trust, where they both worked.

The inquest heard Mrs Greenwood’s involvement with Mrs Baker was limited, but she was present at a meeting on 19 October to discuss her treatment.

By October 2007, the inquest heard, there were “rumblings” from nurses and consultants about Paterson’s surgery.

Asked whether concerns arose before October 2007, Mrs Greenwood said: “I can’t say exactly.”

Mrs Greenwood said the concerns were Paterson was leaving positive margins and potentially leaving breast tissue after a mastectomy.

“If you leave breast tissue there’s a risk of developing recurrence if the cancer hasn’t been removed,” she said.

She told the inquest Paterson was a senior surgeon and she had no reason to challenge him and it was not her place to give a personal view. She also said: "It wasn't my place to inform patients. I wasn't a surgeon. I was a nurse."

She said when she asked whether there were concerns and if they should be preparing patients for further surgery, she was told to "butt out".

The inquest into Mrs Baker’s death, which is the third of 62 cases to be heard, continues.

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