A HOSPITAL consultant has been suspended from clinical practice after health chiefs launched an investigation into his work.

Orthopaedic surgeon Kassim Mahdi has had to leave his post at Bishop Auckland General Hospital, pending an investigation.

His employer, County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust, has confirmed that the consultant has been reported to the medical watchdog, the General Medical Council, for external investigation.

He will continue to receive his full salary and is understood to be contesting the suspension.

Fearing the inquiry would spark dozens of calls from concerned patients of Mr Mahdi, the trust has set up a special phone line.

Anyone who wants to speak to the trust about the investigation is asked not to flood local clinics or hospitals with direct calls but to telephone the Patient Inquiry Line on (01325) 743950.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm that Mr Kassim Mahdi, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon working for the trust, has been formally excluded from work pending an investigation into aspects of his clinical practice.

"We are referring the matter to the General Medical Council, which will look at the information provided and decide what action may be necessary. Arrangements have been made for patients due to be seen by Mr Mahdi to be seen by other consultants."

Mr Mahdi has worked for the trust at Bishop Auckland General Hospital for ten years and was for a time the only permanent consultant in the orthopaedic department.

Since the middle of October, he has worked at the University Hospital of North Durham in Durham City, as well as at Bishop Auckland General.

Mr Mahdi qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 1970 in Baghdad. By the time he joined County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust, he had earned himself a national reputation for skills and knowledge about shoulder surgery.

Supporters of Mr Mahdi say he is an experienced consultant who has always put his patients' needs first. Among them was Valerie Bryden, chief officer with the former South Durham and Weardale Community Health Council.

She said: "Mr Mahdi has worked his socks off for the trust, and I believe he was an extremely proficient surgeon, very caring and wholly dedicated to his patients."