Twenty women had breasts removed needlessly, says NHS trust

Twenty women underwent mastectomies unnecessarily while being treated for breast cancer, an NHS trust in north-east England has told the BBC.

They were among hundreds of patients who came to harm during treatment at the breast unit of the County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT).

The admission comes in the wake of revelations about serious failures in the unit, as reported by the BBC last year .

Steve Russell, who has recently taken over as CDDFT's chief executive, says he apologises "unreservedly" for the harm the trust caused.

"There are no words I could use to convey how personally distressed I am," he says. "What happened was utterly unacceptable."

Dozens of affected women and their families contacted us after we reported concerns about serious failings at the trust's breast cancer unit. These included:

Outsourcing of some treatment to private clinics run by the trust's breast cancer clinical lead - an arrangement that one independent expert said created "a clear conflict of interest

Patients described the shock they had felt on being told a mastectomy (the removal of all or part of a breast) could have been avoided, as well as the psychological and physical pain that many still live with.