Mastectomy scandal: Twenty women had unnecessary procedure at trust, investigation finds

A review of more than 500 breast cancer cases at County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust found that 32 women received excessive surgery when a wide local excision would have sufficed, and 20 of them underwent a mastectomy without clinical need. The same review identified delayed breast cancer diagnosis in a further 20 women. Longstanding concerns about care quality, governance and patient experience at the trust had already been flagged by the Northern Cancer Alliance, the Care Quality Commission and the Getting It Right First Time audit programme, and an internal review of additional affected patients, including those contacting a dedicated helpline, is still under way.