"The court was told the defendant, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, urged patients to undergo procedures for "obscure motives" that may have included a desire to "earn extra money".Jurors at Nottingham Crown Court heard last month Paterson had exaggerated or invented the risk of cancer.Complaints about Paterson had been made for years but managers at the NHS trust that employed him "preferred good news to true news", a 2013 report said.US lawmakers are considering tougher regulation of the firms, which critics say are too powerful.Speaking at the sentencing victim John Ingram, who underwent an unnecessary double mastectomy, described Paterson as a criminal who committed grotesque, violent acts.He was found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three of unlawful wounding, after his trial.
And in order to keep their own costs as low as possible, they typically rely on a single junior doctor working unsupervised for 168 hours a week to oversee all post-operative care.In the last year, almost a third of all NHS hip operations were carried out in private hospitals. Unlike in the NHS, hospitals private hospitals do not directly employ the consultants who work in them. The chair, Rt Revd Graham James, says this was "far worse" than simply a story about a rogue surgeon though that itself was tragic.He says the healthcare system was dysfunctional at every level when it came to keeping patients safe. ""Many simply avoided or worked round him. "In the wake of his sentencing, the General Medical Council (GMC) said it was crucial such crimes were prevented from happening again. Jacqui Smith, chair of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust which now runs Solihull Hospital, said it "wholly condemns" Paterson's practices and acknowledged "many of Paterson's patients received appalling treatment whilst under the care of the NHS".Patients were let down by the healthcare system "at every level" said the inquiry chair, retired Bishop of Norwich the Rt Revd Graham James, who identified "multiple individual and organisational failures".Later that year, minister of state for health Philip Dunne established the independent inquiry. Another was told that the hospital “only rented Paterson a room”.Rather than tackle the private hospital industry head-on, the report forwarded a series of low-impact recommendations which will do nothing to prevent another PatersonOn the contrary, there is a strong financial incentive for private hospitals to turn a blind eye to the types of overtreatment for which Ian Paterson was responsible – since the more operations a surgeon carries out, the more money the hospital makes.This leaves private hospitals with very little incentive to challenge a consultant’s activities, as an overly strict hospital management could drive away a highly lucrative consultant and their steady stream of patients. The only problem in Solihull was Ian Paterson," she said.Among the report's recommendations were:Spire Healthcare's chief executive, Justin Ash, apologised for the "significant distress" suffered by patients and accepted "missed opportunities to challenge Ian Paterson's criminal behaviour".Paterson is serving a 20-year jail term for 17 counts of wounding with intent.His sentence was later increased to 20 years.Those referred to the health watchdog and the police were not named in the report. "We should have caught him sooner," he said.