Pam Brown from Durham was an NHS patient who underwent a mastectomy in 2022 at Spire Hospital in Washington, where one of the outsourced private clinics was based.
As with Denise and Jo, Pam does not know who carried out her operation. Bhatti was the consultant overseeing the care of all three women.
As far as Pam knows, her mastectomy was necessary. But the scars left behind – both physical and psychological – have deeply affected her.
We have shown photographs of Pam’s scarring to Liz O’Riordan, a former breast cancer surgeon. She describes them as “awful” and says she has never seen anything like it: “That’s not acceptable at all. I’d have brought her back for revision surgery.”
Concerns were also raised last year in a report by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) that breast cancer cases had not been discussed properly in multi-disciplinary team meetings (MDTs).
These meetings are designed to ensure treatment plans are reviewed and challenged by surgeons, radiologists, pathologists and cancer specialists – before major decisions, such as mastectomies, are made.
There was little evidence the trust’s breast unit was contributing to MDTs, and decisions about patients’ cases were being made based on the unchallenged opinion of individual surgeons, according to the RCS report.
Outdated practices at the trust that did not meet guidance on best practice included a high rate of “re-excision” (repeated procedures), low uptake of breast reconstruction immediately after mastectomy, and operations that may have been carried out “too quickly”.
The Aubrey review also suggested patients were potentially treated by locum consultants who were not competent, and noted that Bhatti had repeatedly raised concerns about trust delays in obtaining vital diagnostic equipment.
CDDFT says it is co-operating fully with the investigation by Durham Police and the National Crime Agency – and is sharing information when requested.
But for the women whose breasts have been wrongly removed, it is too late.
“You can’t put a breast back,” says O’Riordan. “These are lifelong disfigurements, and it’s horrific.” Breast cancer surgery, she says, “has some of the tightest guidelines and protocols, and you should have the same treatment wherever you are, private or public, in any part of the UK.”
The Department of Health and Social Care says its thoughts are with the women and families affected but it is not able to “comment further on those past failings while the current investigation is ongoing”.
It adds that the trust is working urgently with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and independent experts to address what happened “and to ensure that all future patients receive safe care”.
We approached Amir Bhatti about the concerns raised. He said: “I am grateful for the opportunity to respond, but I remain committed to the ongoing trust investigation, and it would be inappropriate for me to discuss this whilst proceedings are ongoing.”
