Last week it emerged that the private healthcare provider had launched a patient recall process after concerns about the practice of consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Mr Habib Rahman, at Spire Parkway Hospital.

An ex-patient, who does not wish to be named, was recalled by Spire in 2019 and told she had been given two unnecessary surgeries by Mr Rahman – in the space of two months.

She contacted Thompsons Solicitors in confidence, after connecting the dots between Spire Healthcare, its connections to disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson and Thompsons’ role in bringing him to justice.

In a patient recall letter shared with the firm by one of its clients, Spire said it had tasked the Royal College of Surgeons with completing an independent review into Mr Habib’s practice. The College concluded that Spire should review patients who had received shoulder manipulation surgery from Mr Rahman to ‘assess whether their care was appropriate’.

These new allegations of potential wrongdoing by surgeons working at Spire Healthcare hospitals came less than a fortnight before the findings of the Independent Inquiry into Ian Paterson are due to be published.

Mr Ian Paterson is currently serving 20 years in prison for wounding with intent, after giving hundreds of patients unnecessary breast surgeries during his time at Spire. Thompsons describes this latest incident of yet another surgeon undertaking unnecessary or inappropriate surgical procedures as evidence of continuing “systemic failures” at Spire.

National practice lead for clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors, Linda Millband, led the civil claims against Spire in the wake of the Ian Paterson scandal. She comments: “A second patient recall and another rogue surgeon operating unnecessarily at Mr Paterson’s old private hospital suggests systemic failings.

“We are aware of this issue because, on receiving a recall letter, an ex-patient connected the dots between Spire, Paterson and our role in bringing him to justice, and reached out to us for advice.

“This could be the tip of the iceberg, so we encourage others who feel they have received similar unnecessary care from Mr Habib Rahman or indeed any other surgeon at a Spire hospital to come forward. Those we have spoken to so far have been referred to Spire from the NHS, but there may be private patients affected too.

“Whether they reached Spire through the NHS or privately we are committed through our Patients Before Profit Campaign to expose poor patient treatment at private hospitals and are determined that Spire do not get away with brushing yet another recall under what must be a pretty big carpet by now.”

Thompsons is offering free, no obligation and confidential legal advice to any patients who are concerned about treatment they received from Mr Habib Rahman. The firm is already advising a number of a clients who were involved in the recall about their right to make a medical negligence claim for damages.

Anyone who has received a recall letter from Spire or had shoulder manipulation surgery from Mr Rahman should come forward and seek medical and legal advice as soon as possible.