A disgraced breast surgeon is to be stripped of his £1m pension by the health secretary, according to reports.

Ian Paterson was jailed for 20 years in 2017 for carrying out unnecessary and unapproved procedures on more than 1,000 breast cancer patients over a 14 year period.

Inquests into the deaths of 62 of his patients are to open on Monday, with another 20 opening later. The inquests, at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court, are set to last for two years

The Sunday Times reports Wes Streeting has decided to remove Paterson’s taxpayer-funded pension under rules that allow NHS benefits to be forfeited in the case of criminal, negligent or fraudulent acts.

For this to happen, the offences must be considered so serious as to lead to a “serious loss of confidence in the public service” or to have been “gravely injurious to the state,” the newspaper said.

Paterson, 64, worked at the Spire Parkway Hospital and Spire Little Aston Hospital in Birmingham between 1997 and 2011, as well as NHS hospitals run by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

He was jailed in 2017 after being convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding relating to unnecessary operations performed on 10 patients between 1997 and 2011.

An independent inquiry ruled Paterson had carried out hundreds of unnecessary operations on scores of patients, exaggerating or inventing cancer risks.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “These were appalling crimes and we are assisting His Majesty’s Coroner with the inquests concerning the tragic deaths of patients previously treated by Ian Paterson.”

Paterson was recently given permission to move to a Category D open prison, causing anger and distress among his victims and their families. The Ministry of Justice apologised for any miscommunication after relatives said they had not been informed of the move.

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