Reporter Marjorie McIntyre received treatment at Hartlepool General Hospital after finding a lump in her breast. For the next 15 years, she was a patient of surgeon Ron Rhind who is today under investigation for his treatment of cancer patients.

I BECAME a patient of Ron Rhind after it was decided that a lump in my breast should be surgically removed. It was he who would carry out the operation at Hartlepool General Hospital and it was he who would tell me of the discovery of some pre-cancerous cells which would result in me remaining a patient of Mr Rhind's for the following 15 years.

In all of that time I was given courteous, informative and, what certainly appeared to me, to be expert treatment.

Ron Rhind did not fit my pre-conceived idea of a typical surgeon, he is small, slightly built and always immaculately dressed with a bustling, authoritative air. After I was admitted to hospital, he took the time carefully to explain the procedure I was about to undergo and encouraged me to think positively about the outcome.

Anyone who has ever been diagnosed with anything potentially life threatening will understand what a deeply focusing process it is and how totally dependent you feel on those looking after you. Your life is literally in their hands and you are determined and need to believe they are the most confident and curative hands available.

I believed that of Ron Rhind and remember so vividly the day I visited him to learn of the results of the tests on the tissue removed in the operation. It wasn't quite as straightforward as he'd hoped it would be, he told me. The laboratory tests had revealed some pre-cancerous cells in the lump.

But he assured me: "We are confident we have removed everything potentially harmful and we will continue to monitor you until we are sure there is no danger.''

And it was a full 15 years before Mr Rhind finally decided that I was completely in the clear.

At first, I saw Mr Rhind every three months, then at six-monthly intervals and, finally, once a year. The lump in my breast had been detected while I was in my mid-thirties and my two daughters had just started school.

During my long period of aftercare, we often chatted about my treatment and about the impact the "scare'' had had on my family.

Mr Rhind was always bright and cheerful and inquiring as to any possible symptoms which may have arisen and would give me meticulous explanations of any questions I came up with.

My medical notes over the years literally became dog-eared as, on my repeated requests, he willingly retrieved them from the file to satisfy me that I had been given all the necessary information and nothing was being concealed.

Each time my visit came round, I was carefully examined and dealt with politely and informatively, until that final consultation when he decided I need return no more.

Throughout this protracted period of consultation, I developed a respect for Ron Rhind but was not blinded to his sometime air of arrogance which was no doubt - like so many of his colleagues - borne out of an unfaltering self belief.

He, I am sure, was convinced that when it came to the welfare of his patients he simply knew best. In my personal case, I believe he did, and I am genuinely saddened to learn that he is himself ill and that others have apparently experienced entirely different treatment to my own.