Twenty women had breasts removed needlessly, says NHS trust

Twenty women underwent mastectomies unnecessarily while being treated for breast cancer, an NHS trust in north-east England has told the BBC.

They were among hundreds of patients who came to harm during treatment at the breast unit of the County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT).

The admission comes in the wake of revelations about serious failures in the unit, as reported by the BBC last year.

Dozens of affected women and their families contacted us after we reported concerns about serious failings at the trust's breast cancer unit. These included:

• A high number of mastectomies compared with other NHS trusts.

• Operations that were carried out "too quickly".

• Outsourcing of some treatment to private clinics run by the trust's breast cancer clinical lead - an arrangement that one independent expert said created "a clear conflict of interest.

Patients described the shock they had felt on being told a mastectomy (the removal of all or part of a breast) could have been avoided, as well as the psychological and physical pain that many still live with.

CDDFT is now carrying out an internal review of breast cancer cases between January 2023 and February 2025, alongside the cases of 640 former patients who contacted a dedicated helpline.

It says that cases have also been identified where cancer diagnoses were missed or delayed. Some of these patients subsequently saw their cancer spread.

Last year, BBC News reported that nearly £6m had been paid by the trust over six years to breast cancer diagnostic clinics and surgery companies run privately by Mr Amir Bhatti, who was CDDFT's clinical lead for breast services from 2013-24. Concern about this arrangement was raised in a 2025 review into the running of the trust carried out by governance specialist Mary Aubrey,

She said outsourcing patient appointments had created financial incentives which were potentially "a risk to clinical standards".

Mr Bhatti has now been suspended from carrying out clinical practice but is still employed by the trust on full pay.

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Source: BBC News, 18 September 2026

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