Bodies of Evidence: The Butcher Surgeon: Viewers slam 'arrogant' Ian Paterson over cancer surgeries

Shocked viewers of Bodies of Evidence: The Butcher Surgeon slammed Ian Paterson, who diagnosed healthy victims with cancer and performed 1,000 botched and unnecessary operations. One victim, Debby Douglas, described how she feared she would die and wrote letters to her children after being told by Paterson she needed a mastectomy Another victim, John Ingram, underwent a double mastectomy and said Paterson had 'lied to him and drugged him' for 'no reason' In 2007, breast surgeon Hemant Ingle tried to challenge Paterson after becoming concerned the senior consultant was putting patients at risk by carrying out inappropriate reconstruction surgery and partial mastectomies that left breast tissue behind. Ingle thinks Paterson was motivated by pure greed, with some reports suggesting he had earned as much as £100,000 a year from the procedures on top of his £100,000 NHS salary Paterson had misdiagnosed cancer in healthy patients and performed unnecessary and damaging surgery including unregulated ‘cleavage-sparing’ mastectomies. ‘So many patients told me that when they finished private treatment because they couldn’t afford it any more and they went to the NHS, he wouldn’t even look at them.’ Ingle said Paterson had so many private cases at the two Spire hospitals, he suspected Bethan was stealing his patients. A spokesperson for the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘The Trust wholly condemns Paterson’s actions and the inaction culture poor governance surrounding decisions made by Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust during that time.’ A Spire Healthcare statement said: ‘We apologise for the significant distress and harm suffered by patients who were treated by Ian Paterson in our hospitals.