Harold Shipman will today be confirmed as the biggest mass murderer known to medical history when an official government report reveals that the Cheshire GP killed 230 elderly patients - and probably in excess of 250.
A clinical audit of the suspicious deaths which occurred in his one-man practice at Hyde has produced what Department of Health officials called a "chilling" pattern of "excess deaths", either at home or at the surgery - often between noon and 3 pm which points to deliberate killings - usually by lethal injection.
The report, at least 1cm thick, contains tables which set out the recurring pattern.
Days after Dame Janet Smith was appointed to preside over the public inquiry into the scale of Shipman's crimes - over and above the 15 murder convictions reached against him last year - the chief medical officer of health, Liam Donaldson, will publish the report of Richard Baker of Leicester University. Professor Baker went through all the medical records of Shipman, who is serving a life sentence, during his 20 years in Hyde when his only other staff colleague was his wife, who acted as his secretary.
He delivered his report to Dr Donaldson, who had been asked to arrange the audit by the health secretary, Alan Milburn.
Although it is not clear quite how many deaths can be laid at the GP's door, it is said to be "definitely" 236, and probably 250. Taken with the 15 for which he was tried at Preston crown court, the total is around 265. No medical serial killer is ever known to have murdered so many people, outside the Nazi death camps.
His reputation warded off inquiries for years until it was found that he had lied about a conviction for drug abuse. Under the new health bill, previous convictions will have to be notified to a health authority. The Baker report will be sent to the crown prosecution service, who will decide whether to prosecute.
