Mum operated on by shamed Scots surgeon Ian Paterson 'not given safest treatment', inquest hears

A mother-of-two who was operated on by breast surgeon Ian Paterson was not informed that other medical experts believed treatment he recommended was not the safest option, an inquest has heard.

The third of 62 inquests being held on patients of Paterson, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for wounding, was told Christine Baker died after putting her trust in Paterson's advice to have a "skin-sparing" mastectomy in 2005.Mrs Baker, who died aged 59 in 2015, had been advised that there was “no additional risk” to a reconstructive element of the procedure, but saw her cancer “return” in 2007 and underwent a second mastectomy, her husband Stephen Baker told the inquest.At the start of his evidence, Mr Baker, a retired automotive design engineer from Balsall Common, near Solihull, described Mrs Baker, an English teacher at a Birmingham secondary school, as someone who was passionate about education and did her best to give her pupils the best chance in life.Paterson, 66, told Birmingham Coroner’s Court last week that he stopped performing his version of the “cleavage-sparing” operation as soon as he was informed by hospital chiefs in 2007 that more research was needed.

Giving evidence to the judge-led inquest, Mr Baker said he and his wife, who was also an assistant headteacher, had borrowed £12,000 to pay for the 2005 operation to be carried out privately.Mr Baker told the court Mrs Baker, who was diagnosed with invasive cancer in her right breast in February 2005, was adamant that she wanted a mastectomy without reconstruction as “she didn’t want to take any risks”.

He told the inquest: “She wasn’t really keen to have immediate reconstruction. It was just that she had been advised that that was the best option so