WHEN Richard Neale left Northallerton in 1995, he received a pay-off of £100,000. His private consulting rooms were bought from him for £57,000. And he received a reference which was glowing enough for him to obtain immediate employment in Leicester.

The Friarage Hospital at the time felt that this was the best option, as sacking him would have caused it to become embroiled in lengthy, expensive legal battles.

The folly of that decision has been exposed many times over, and yesterday it became clearer still as, seven years on from Mr Neale's pay-off from Northallerton, his patients are still fighting their own lengthy legal battles to receive compensation for the damage he did to them.

And, in comparison to the riches that Mr Neale received as a reward for his incompetence, the compensation offered to the women who've been left with the most painful - and embarrassing - problems is derisory.

We have said before in this column that we do not like the way the compensation culture is evolving, whereby, if the slightest mishap occurs, the first thought is to sue.

But this is clearly not the case with the women who have suffered - and will continue to suffer for the rest of their lives - at the hands of Mr Neale. They deserve compensation.

It is interesting how when it comes to paying off a troublesome surgeon, the health authorities are able to bend the rules to create an attractive package for him, but when it comes to compensating the victims, the authorities have to adhere to the strictest rules which mean they can only pay out sums which the victims find "insulting". And, in comparison to Mr Neale's £100,000, the offers of between £7,000 and £15,000 are insulting.

These rules for the victims are so strict they seem not to take into account the suffering the women endured after Mr Neale left Northallerton. For three years, in great distress, they had to mount a campaign to even get the authorities at the Friarage to listen to them.

So they suffered at the hands of an arrogant, incompetent surgeon. Then they suffered at the closed doors of a reluctant health authority. And now, to add insult to injury, they are suffering at the hands of a parsimonious litigation authority.