How did a lying breast surgeon destroy so many lives?

Yesterday an inquiry into the harm that breast surgeon Ian Paterson did to his patients finally delivered its results. The inquiry recommended that all of his 11,000 patients should have their treatment reassessed. Paterson, who claimed to be a specialised breast surgeon, performed unnecessary surgeries, misdiagnosed patients with cancer and treated patients incorrectly. Paterson is already serving a 20 year jail term for 17 counts of wounding with intent, but his victims remain deeply scarred by the damage he inflicted on them. In this episode we speak to Jade Edginton, a woman who was repeatedly unnecessarily operated on as a teenager for lumps in her breast, and BBC Midlands reporter Kathryn Stanczyszyn who heard the results of the inquiry from the court room. We also hear from John Hynes, whose wife did not survive Paterson’s horrific malpractice, and Emma Doughty, the head of clinical negligence at Slater and Gordon, the firm that brought the civil case against Paterson. She tells us how he was able to get away with what he did for so long and why this sort of thing could happen again. You can hear the full Slater and Gordon podcast here Presenter: Matthew Price

Producer: Lucy Hancock

Mixed by Emma Crowe

Editor: Philly Beaumont