Orthopaedic surgeon ‘carried out unnecessary or inappropriate shoulder surgeries’ on 217 private patients at same hospital where breast cancer butcher Ian Paterson maimed dozens of women
- More than 200 patients at private hospital have been recalled over operations
- Habib Rahman allegedly performed ‘unnecessary or inappropriate’ surgeries
- The private provider restricted his practice in September 2018 after concerns
- Rahman is continuing to work under ‘interim restrictions’ in the NHS
More than 200 private patients at a hospital linked to the Ian Paterson breast surgery scandal have been recalled over concerns a surgeon may have performed ‘unnecessary’ operations on them.
Orthopaedic surgeon Habib Rahman is alleged to have performed unnecessary or inappropriate shoulder procedures at Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull, West Midlands, lawyers said.
Some 217 private patients have been asked to have a follow-up with an independent specialist ‘to review their care and to understand more about their post-operative recovery’, Spire Healthcare said.
Surgeon Habib Rahman is alleged to have performed unnecessary or inappropriate shoulder procedures at Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull, West Midlands, lawyers said. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said it had not recalled any of his NHS patients
The Spire Parkway was one of the hospitals where disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson worked.
He was jailed for 20 years in 2017 for intentionally wounding his patients by exaggerating or inventing cancer risks and claiming payments for more expensive procedures.
Private provider Spire withdrew Mr Rahman’s operating licence in May following a review by the Royal College of Surgeons.
Habib Rahman is pictured above. Some 217 private patients have been asked to have a follow-up with an independent specialist ‘to review their care and to understand more about their post-operative recovery’, Spire Healthcare said
But the NHS trust which employs him said he is continuing to work in the health service under ‘interim restrictions’, which were placed on him in July last year.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said it had not recalled any of his NHS patients.
Lawyers Thompsons Solicitors, acting on behalf of one patient of Mr Rahman’s, suggested there were ‘systemic failings’ at the private provider.
Linda Millband,clinical negligence lead at the firm, said: ‘A second patient recall and another rogue surgeon operating unnecessarily at Mr Paterson’s old private hospital suggests systemic failings.
Hospital where private patients were called has links to Ian Paterson breast surgery scandal
Paterson, 62, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for his ‘truly sickening’ crimes
The Spire Parkway was one of the hospitals where disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson worked.
He worked as a breast surgeon for almost 15 years.
He joined Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (Heft) as a cancer specialist at Solihull Hospital in 1998, and worked at two private hospitals run by Spire Healthcare – Little Aston and Parkway.
He carried out needless breast operations on hundreds of patients over 14 years, leaving many scarred, disfigured and in pain.
He told one the husband of one patient: ‘I leave a little bit of flesh … it is nice for ladies to have a bit of cleavage remaining’.
The doctor intentionally wounded NHS and private patients by exaggerating or inventing cancer risks and claiming payments for more expensive procedures.
Paterson, 62, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for his ‘truly sickening’ crimes.
His trial heard from nine women and one man who were treated in the private sector at Little Aston and Parkway Hospitals in the West Midlands between 1997 and 2011.
By the end of March 2017 the number of his mastectomy patients who had died was 675.
‘This could be the tip of the iceberg, so we encourage others who feel they have received similar unnecessary care from Mr Habib Rahman or indeed any other surgeon at a Spire hospital to come forward.
‘We are committed through our Patients Before Profit Campaign to expose poor patient treatment at private hospitals and are determined that Spire do not get away with brushing yet another recall under what must be a pretty big carpet by now.’
A Spire spokesman said: ‘Following the Royal College’s guidance, we wrote to all shoulder patients who were identified as requiring follow up to offer them a consultation with an independent surgeon to review their care and to understand more about their post-operative recovery.
‘That process is still on-going.
‘We would encourage patients who have received a letter to follow up on our offer of a free review by an independent specialist to ensure their care has been as expected.’
Private provider Spire withdrew Mr Rahman’s operating licence in May following a review by the Royal College of Surgeons. But the NHS trust which employs him said he is continuing to work in the health service under ‘interim restrictions’. The Spire Parkway Hospital is seen above