PATIENT groups last night demanded the Government close a medical loophole which allowed an "extremely dangerous" surgeon to carry on operating.

They spoke out after former North-East surgeon Nalini Senchaudhuri, 62, was struck off yesterday.

Mr Senchaudhuri ignored an earlier directive by the General Medical Council that he should not work unsupervised, a restriction imposed after a string of botched operations.

Instead, the orthopaedic surgeon operated on new patients by himself. In one case, a woman had to spend six months in hospital after he displaced a broken bone.

Yesterday's London hearing was told that Mr Senchaudhuri worked in Gateshead, Northallerton and York in breach of the restrictions.

He insisted that he had told the locum agency which employed him about the restrictions imposed on him, and said he would appeal to the Medical Protection Society.

The surgeon, who qualified in India before coming to England in 1976, was first hauled before the GMC charged with serious professional misconduct 18 months ago.

Carole Sowerby needed walking sticks after a procedure to straighten toes at Bishop Auckland Hospital, carried out by Mr Senchaudhuri in 1994, went disastrously wrong. A few months later, Kevin Marley was left unable to raise his arm after treatment to a damaged shoulder.

Five years later, Mr Senchaudhuri shocked colleagues at Bristol Royal Infirmary when he took an hour to insert a screw in a patient's hip. It should have taken five minutes.

The GMC found him guilty of serious professional misconduct in September 2001 and ordered that he should stay in middle-grade NHS posts under direct supervision during surgery.

When he was taken on as a locum orthopaedic surgeon at York District Hospital in 2002, he failed to reveal the restrictions. But consultant Charles McLaren suspected he was not up to the job and insisted on supervising his work.

In a report to the GMC, Mr McLaren wrote: "Allowing him to carry out consultant work would be extremely dangerous and he would need to be supervised."

Mr Senchaudhuri was able to flout the ban until last month when questions were asked about his work with the Gateshead Health NHS Trust.

Currently, the system relies on the honesty of doctors to declare if any conditions are imposed on them.

Valerie Bryden, chief officer with South Durham and Wear Valley Community Health Council, said the case showed there was a "glaring loophole" in measures to protect patient safety.

Sheila Wright-Hogeland, who has campaigned for the NHS to learn the lessons of the Richard Neale scandal at Northallerton, said: "It appears that we have got another gaping loophole in patient safety."

The Northern Echo revealed how Mr Neale had worked in the NHS despite being struck off in Canada, prompting NHS officials to tighten up vetting procedures.

Only four months ago, the Department of Health said new checks should prevent NHS hospitals re-employing disgraced doctors. But like previous checks, they depend on the honesty of doctors.

A spokeswoman for the GMC said it remained the responsibility of individual doctors to declare any conditions imposed on them.

A Gateshead trust spokes-man said: "We are now looking to see what opportunities there are to tighten our procedures."

The Department of Health said: "An employer has a duty to check the registration of a doctor and to establish whether there are any restrictions on the registration."

Comment - Page