CALLS for a change in the law are being made after disgraced surgeon Richard Neale was appointed by a top NHS hospital only a year after he was struck off for the second time in his life.

The former surgeon, who was removed from the medical register after injuring more than 200 women patients during ten years at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, has since spent nine months working for South Manchester University Hospital NHS Trust advising other doctors how to avoid clinical errors and provide high quality care to patients.

He originally came to Britain after being struck off by authorities in Canada after the death of two patients there. A police investigation is continuing in that country.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We are appalled to hear that Richard Neale was re-employed in the NHS. The Chief Medical Officer (Liam Donaldson) will be looking into the wider implications of the failures and errors of judgement that led to him being appointed."

While Mr Neale is forbidden from working as a doctor, there are no other restrictions on his employment.

In a statement, the chairman of South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust, Professor David Harnden, said: "Mr Richard Neale was employed by the trust on a temporary contract in August 2001. He held a junior administrative post in the clinical audit department for a period of nine months. He had no clinical responsibilities and no contact with patients.

"Mr Neale's appointment with the trust was terminated in April. An investigation has been carried out into this matter and appropriate disciplinary action has been taken."

A Department of Health spokesman said a warning note about Mr Neale's unsuitability as an employee would have been circulated after he was struck off.

The spokesman said: "Even if someone has been seriously damaging patients, if a trust decides to employ that person in a non-clinical capacity it is legally very difficult for us to stop them."

Anne Alexander, a partner in Manchester law firm Alexander Harris, which will represent Mr Neale's victims at a forthcoming independent inquiry, said she would call for the rules governing the employment of struck-off doctors by NHS hospitals to be re-examined.

Graham Maloney, an advisor to the patient group, said the issue would also be raised with the Health and Safety Executive.

The date for the independent inquiry, to be chaired by circuit judge Susan Mathews QC, is still to be set. It was ordered by the NHS after he was struck off by the General Medical Council two years ago after 35 out of 36 allegations of serious counts of professional misconduct were found proven.

The disgraced doctor's latest appointment was revealed after a copy of a question-and-answer article written by Mr Neale for the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology was passed to The Northern Echo, sister paper of The Advertiser.

He used the interview as an opportunity to protest his innocence and criticise the GMC.

In the article, Mr Neale writes: "I accept that in a tiny fraction of my patients my level of competence was less than I would have wished. I do not accept that I was treated fairly or that justice was done."

He alleged that the disciplinary committee 'ignored the opinions of my three distinguished expert witnesses.'

As for his job advising other doctors, he said: "I believe I would be uniquely equipped to serve the needs of patients while remaining fair to clinicians."

He said he hoped that the hospital 'that has had the compassion and the courage to employ me' would continue to help him achieve 'reconciliation and restitution.'

Mr Neale also indicated he intended to apply to the GMC for registration in three years' time.

Richmond MP and former Tory leader William Hague is demanding to know how official NHS warnings about the former gynaecologist were ignored by the Manchester Trust.

He also demanded to know who gave Mr Neale the references he needed to get a job in the clinical audit department of the trust.

Read more about the Richard Neale scandal here.