WE just want to know the truth that is the message victims of disgraced surgeon Richard Neale will take to the High Court today.

It is nearly two years since the gynaecologist who treated patients from North Yorkshire and Darlington at the Friarage Hospital, North-allerton was struck off after botching a string of operations.

But there is still no answer to the pressing questions asked by scores of his victims.

Today, the same team of lawyers who represent the victims in the Shipman public inquiry will urge Mr Justice Scott-Baker to reject the Department of Health's offer of an inquiry which would be held behind closed doors.

The victims believe a full-scale public inquiry is the only way to get to the bottom of a scandal which has wrecked the lives of many women and tainted the reputation of the medical and health establishment.

To add insult to injury, it was revealed last night that the campaign group founder, Sheila Wright-Hogeland, could face a legal bill of up to £75,000.

The call for an inquiry, which is being fiercely contested by the Department of Health, is backed by five MPs, the Patients' Association and the Association of Community Health Councils of England and Wales (ACHEW).

Last week, former Tory leader William Hague demanded a public inquiry in the House of Commons. The Richmond MP described the Neale case as "uniquely chilling" where serious harm was done to patients, despite warnings which the health establishment failed to heed. A tape of his speech has been handed to the court.

David Hinchliffe MP, chairman of the Commons Health Select Committee, said: "A lot of serious questions need to be asked about how it was possible for this man to continue to practise, in view of his history. I fully support their call for a public inquiry."

The campaign group wants to know:

l Why was a surgeon who was struck off in Canada after the death of a patient and a history of problems allowed to operate on British women for so long?

l Why did managers and colleagues stand by him while the evidence of his incompetence began to pile up?

l How could NHS bosses palm him off on another hospital by giving him a good reference and a handsome pay-off?

According to Mrs Wright-Hogeland the former model turned campaigner who helped found the support group for the victims of Richard Neale in 1998 what is at stake is the credibility of the health establishment.

She had to have a hysterectomy after Neale botched her operation.

"Today's hearing is not about a dangerous and dishonest doctor any longer, it is about the truth," she said. "It is all about the victims' and the public's right to know the truth about this national scandal.

"The terms of reference of the independent inquiry on offer are too limited. It only goes up to 1995, when what we are looking at is an across-the-board systems failure. Why should the public be treated as a bunch of cretins?"

While Mrs Wright-Hogeland's own case was settled out of court, she said she owed it to the 250 members of the support group including 88 women who suffered the most serious injuries whose details she has passed to her legal team to press for a public inquiry.

"It is a last chance for the victims and their families to find out the truth," she said.

Mrs Wright-Hogeland, 50, who lives near Kirkbymoorside in North Yorkshire, paid tribute to The Northern Echo's role in exposing the Neale scandal. "We could not have got this far without The Northern Echo," she added.

Group advisor Graham Maloney, from Yarm, estimates that so far the campaign has cost more than £100,000. Much of that has come from Mrs Wright-Hogeland's pocket.

Former nurse Amanda Pinkney, from Darlington, the only former colleague of Mr Neale to speak out against him publicly, said her prediction that she would never be able to work in the NHS again was turning out to be true.

"I have applied to two trusts in the North-East and they have both turned me down without an interview," said Mrs Pinkney.

MPs to support the public inquiry include Frank Cook (Stockton North), Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby) and Ann McIntosh (Vale of York).

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "We believe an independent inquiry is the best forum to establish the facts. We are awaiting the court's decision.

Read more about Richard Neale here.