Ian Paterson was seen by colleagues as difficult, says medic

Addressing Birmingham Coroner’s Court via a video-link, Mr Jewkes told the inquest he had never worked directly with Paterson.

However, he replaced him as a surgeon at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield in 1998 when Paterson moved to Solihull Hospital.

“He certainly was regarded as a very strong… to some extent a divisive character,” Mr Jewkes said.

“There was a strong personality clash between himself and the then clinical director for surgery – I think he found [Paterson’s] behaviour difficult.

“He was not playing his part on the team. He was very much a loner – ploughing his own furrow if you like. He was certainly a difficult character.”