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In the Guardian today:

Twenty women had their breasts removed unnecessarily while being treated for cancer at an NHS trust in north-east England. The County Durham and Darlington foundation trust (CDDFT) told the BBC that the women were among hundreds of patients who came to harm during treatment at its breast unit. The admission came after the BBC reported last year that more than 200 patients were found to have suffered harm at the CDDFT.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/18/women-breasts-removed-unnecessarily-cancer-treatment-county-durham-darlington-nhs-trust

The 20 unnecessary mastectomies identified so far fall within the trust’s current look-back of breast-cancer cases treated between January 2023 and February 2025.

Have there been any comparable cases like these in Scotland?

The closest documented Scottish examples are older, isolated incidents: Two, one in 1997 and one on 2005.

• In 1997, consultant surgeon William Thomson performed a mastectomy at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride (NHS Lanarkshire) on a woman later found not to have cancer. He had not done a pre-operative biopsy. At a GMC hearing he admitted he had also operated on five other women without full confirmatory tests in the preceding months. The patient said he later told her she was “lucky” and that losing a breast was not as bad as divorce or losing a child. https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=2100906099926790227#:~:text=The%20closest%20documented,nearly%20two%20years.
• In the 2005, Marjory Patterson, 52, had a healthy breast removed at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness after biopsy slides were mixed up with another patient’s. Staff later confirmed the diagnosis was wrong. Compensation of £44,000 was offered after nearly two years. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Shocking%3b+Blunder+docs+looked+at+the+wrong+patient’s+biopsy…-a0135804340

The County Durham and Darlington foundation trust serves a population of 650 000, just over one tenth of that in Scotland.

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going

Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going

Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421