Breast cancer patients suffered unnecessary mastectomies, delayed diagnoses and a lack of compassionate care at an NHS Trust in north-east England, the BBC has learned.<\/p>\n
More than 200 cases are now being investigated at County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT) – 43 of these are reported to involve significant harm. One death is also being examined.<\/p>\n
Women have told us they were left feeling \u00ab\u00a0butchered\u00a0\u00bb by surgery, while a leading expert says that what went on at the trust was \u00ab\u00a0a textbook example of how not to carry out breast cancer management\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
In addition, we discovered that nearly \u00a36m was paid out by the trust to clinics run privately by its main breast cancer surgeon.<\/p>\n
In total, medical records of nearly 1,600 patients treated since 2023 are now being examined following concerns about the service the trust offered.<\/p>\n
An independent review into the running of CDDFT, carried out by governance specialist Mary Aubrey, has also been published this week. Among the shortcomings it highlights are:<\/p>\n
The Aubrey review says \u00ab\u00a0persistent concerns\u00a0\u00bb had been raised since 2012, when the trust lost its status as a training centre for breast surgery services. In the following years, it \u00ab\u00a0failed to act on repeated warnings and evidence… which allowed unsafe and outdated practices to persist\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
CDDFT has apologised to \u00ab\u00a0women and their families who have been harmed because of our substandard care\u00a0\u00bb, and it admits that \u00ab\u00a0over many years, warning signs were repeatedly missed or not acted upon\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Kate Driver, who is 31 and from Chester-le-Street, is one of several women we spoke to who had been treated by CDDFT’s breast cancer service.<\/p>\n
In the run-up to Christmas 2023, Kate found a lump in her right breast. She was referred by her GP to the trust for an appointment with a specialist.<\/p>\n
Although this was an NHS appointment, it took place at a private clinic held at Spire Hospital in Washington, where she was seen by Mr Amir Bhatti, the trust’s clinical lead for breast surgery.<\/p>\n
He carried out a test known as a fine needle aspiration (FNA), during which a sample of cells is extracted to test for cancer.<\/p>\n
What she did not know was that FNA tests are not considered best practice for breast biopsies, because they can produce inadequate samples, and lead to the risk of missed, incomplete or delayed diagnoses.<\/p>\n
Kate’s test results were supposed to be provided within 48 hours, according to the trust’s website. In fact, the test was inconclusive, and Kate had to wait several weeks before she was finally told she had breast cancer.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Waiting so long and having to chase everything up made it a hundred times worse than it needed to be,\u00a0\u00bb says Kate. \u00ab\u00a0I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. It just made it felt like no-one really cared, no-one was taking it seriously.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
More bad news was to follow. Kate was told she would need a mastectomy, but advised that because of her particular type of cancer, she should not have breast reconstruction at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0They were going to completely remove my right breast and leave me with nothing, just a big scar,\u00a0\u00bb she says.<\/p>\n
Kate sought a second opinion at another trust in Newcastle, where she was told there was no reason why she should not receive a breast reconstruction immediately after her mastectomy. She chose to be treated there instead.<\/p>\n
The County Durham and Darlington NHS trust has apologised to Kate saying her care \u00ab\u00a0fell below acceptable standards\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
She made a formal complaint about her treatment by Mr Bhatti, which she says left her traumatised.<\/p>\n
Spire Healthcare says that treatment and follow-up care of the clinic’s patients was the responsibility of CDDFT.<\/p>\n
Mr Bhatti told us he was unable to comment on specific cases because of patient confidentiality and urged patients to contact the trust directly.<\/p>\n
Research from 2024 shows that almost half of women diagnosed with breast cancer at the County Durham trust had a mastectomy. According to 2022 parliamentary evidence given by the charity Breast Cancer Now, the UK average was about 27%.<\/p>\n
In addition, only 7.5% of mastectomies carried out by CDDFT were followed by immediate breast reconstruction – far below the national recommended minimum of 25%.<\/p>\n
Dawn Gillott is another breast-cancer patient whose treatment at the trust is being investigated.<\/p>\n
She told us she had been given no option except mastectomy: \u00ab\u00a0I felt like I didn’t have a choice. It was ‘you’re having this and that’s all there is to it’.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
She says she has been left with a massive scar which has left her feeling \u00ab\u00a0butchered\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I can’t look in the mirror at myself after having a bath because the scar is just a constant reminder that it’s horrific.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
The operation has also left Dawn in constant pain across her chest and under her armpit.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Was my mastectomy necessary?\u00a0\u00bb she reflects. \u00ab\u00a0Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe I could have had a lumpectomy.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Between 2022 and 2024, more than half of the patients referred to CDDFT for breast cancer tests or urgent investigation were – like Kate – initially sent to one of two private two-week-wait clinics paid for by the NHS.<\/p>\n
Amir Bhatti ran these clinics, and he was also a director of one of the companies behind them – Durham Surgical Services.<\/p>\n
The companies were paid on a per-patient, or per-appointment, basis – a set-up, the BBC has found, that cost the trust nearly \u00a36m between 2019 and April 2025.<\/p>\n
This arrangement was considered \u00ab\u00a0overly generous\u00a0\u00bb by some staff, who were interviewed for a Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) report into treatment and care at the trust, published earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The clinics generally worked on an out-of-hours basis, seeing patients in the evenings and at weekends.<\/p>\n
The RCS raised concerns about the high turnover of appointments, commenting that it was not unusual for one clinic \u00ab\u00a0to run on until 23:30\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Obviously there was an incentive to see as many people as possible because of the per capita payment,\u00a0\u00bb says Prof Ian Fentiman, emeritus professor of surgical oncology at King’s College London.<\/p>\n
The BBC has also heard allegations from breast cancer patients about a lack of compassion and care at the trust, in both its clinics and its hospitals.<\/p>\n
Catriona McEvoy, from Stanley in County Durham, told us she felt women were being treated by the doctors \u00ab\u00a0like a conveyor belt\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
She says she was shocked by the response from one doctor during a hospital appointment, after she told him her breast had become infected following a lumpectomy.<\/p>\n
She says that, without speaking to her, offering her pain killers or asking her permission, the doctor just \u00ab\u00a0flicked his surgical knife\u00a0\u00bb and cut her breast to drain the infected area.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0There was no dignity in any of it,\u00a0\u00bb says Catriona.<\/p>\n
We contacted the doctor who Catriona says performed this procedure, but he declined to comment. The trust has told the BBC he is now under supervision.<\/p>\n
Serious concerns about the speed and quality of breast surgery were identified in the Royal College of Surgeons’ report. \u00ab\u00a0Some surgical procedures appeared to be undertaken with great swiftness,\u00a0\u00bb it says.<\/p>\n
These included a mastectomy and lymph node procedure performed in 28 minutes, and an excision of benign thickened breast tissue in 10 minutes, \u00ab\u00a0which the review team considered to have been unnecessary\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The RCS also noted \u00ab\u00a0a very high re-excision rate\u00a0\u00bb – in other words, repeat operations.<\/p>\n
The RCS review was \u00ab\u00a0an appalling indictment\u00a0\u00bb of a \u00ab\u00a0third-rate\u00a0\u00bb breast clinic service, according to Prof Fentiman. \u00ab\u00a0In every way, things were being done wrongly,\u00a0\u00bb he says.<\/p>\n
It followed two other critical reports into the breast care service at CDDFT.<\/p>\n
In 2019, an internal NHS Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) report highlighted multiple concerns about breast surgery at CDDFT. The trust’s executive director of nursing, Kathryn Burn told the BBC that the concerns in the report were discussed, but not much action was taken.<\/p>\n
The GIRFT report, along with a 2024 review carried out by a team of experts at the Northern Cancer Alliance, was not made public until the BBC made a Freedom of Information request .<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The important thing to do… is to say how deeply sorry I am, that women who have been cared for in our breast services have been let down by us,\u00a0\u00bb says Steve Russell, who was appointed chief executive of County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust in September 2025.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I can only imagine the distress and pain that has been caused to the individuals and their families and the loss of trust and confidence in us as an organisation.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It is true to say that there were a number of missed opportunities. It was not good enough and it is not good enough that we were too slow to act on the information that was there.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
He adds: \u00ab\u00a0I’m determined to make changes so that it doesn’t happen again.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
As well as a new chief executive, a new interim chair of the trust has been appointed. NHS England told us it will \u00ab\u00a0continue to support the new leadership and partner organisations to make the improvements required\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Mr Bhatti said he had been disappointed not to be given the opportunity to comment on the draft findings of the RCS report. He told the BBC it contained \u00ab\u00a0some factual inaccuracies\u00a0\u00bb which he believed led to \u00ab\u00a0erroneous conclusions\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
He also told us that \u00ab\u00a0serving the best interests of all our patients is of paramount importance\u00a0\u00bb and that, when things go wrong, \u00ab\u00a0we learn from this and make the necessary changes and improvements\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the trust stopped using the out-of-hours clinics run by Mr Bhatti. He is no longer clinical lead of the breast service, treating breast cancer patients or performing surgery, while investigations continue.<\/p>\n
In a statement to the BBC, his spokesperson said: \u00ab\u00a0Mr Bhatti has been raising concerns about the adequacy of equipment in the breast cancer department since May 2021. He looks forward to working with all those involved in any way required.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
If you, or someone you know, has been affected by cancer, BBC Action Line has a list of organisations that may be able to help.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by Ben Milne<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Breast cancer patients suffered unnecessary mastectomies, delayed diagnoses and a lack of compassionate care at an NHS Trust in north-east England, the BBC has learned. More than 200 cases are now being investigated at County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT) – 43 of these are reported to involve significant harm. One death is also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}