A COMPLAINT against the barrister who represented disgraced surgeon Richard Neale has been referred to the Professional Conduct and Complaints Committee of the Bar Council.

The complaint alleges that the mode of cross-examination used by leading barrister, Malcolm Fortune, was overly aggressive.

If it is upheld, campaigners from the region hope it will increase pressure on the General Medical Council (GMC) to radically overhaul its system of holding doctors to account.

The matter was referred to the complaints committee by the Bar Council's complaints commissioner, Michael Scott, following approaches by a group representing ex-patients of Mr Neale, a former surgeon at The Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

If it decides there is a serious case to answer, the barrister would have to appear before a full-scale disciplinary tribunal. This could lead to a fine, suspension, reprimand, or even disbarring for the barrister.

During the GMC Professional Conduct Committee hearing last July, the chairman, Professor Kenneth Hobbs, reprimanded Mr Fortune for the manner in which he cross-examined Sheila Wright-Hogeland, of Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, one of the founders of the Neale patient support group.

Later, Prof Hobbs even halted the proceedings to give Mrs Wright-Hogeland a break after more than 90 minutes of cross-examination, referring to the "trauma" she was subjected to.

Graham Maloney, who speaks for the former Neale patients, said: "We want to highlight the fact that GMC hearings are a very, very hostile arena for patients. It is already a Herculean task to bring a doctor before the GMC - why should people who are acting in the public interest face intimidatory cross-examination."

Mr Neale was struck off the medical register after six weeks of GMC hearings.

Letters of complaint from patients who gave evidence during the hearing have been passed to the Bar Council.

One of them, Janet Roberts, from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, described the hearing as "daunting and intimidating".

She said she found Mr Fortune's attitude to her to be "harsh".

Another patient, Irene Stewart, from Seaton Carew, Teesside said: "I was very nervous, and to be treated like a criminal was horrendous."

A spokeswoman for Le Brasseur J Tickle, the Leeds solicitors which briefed Mr Fortune on the Neale case, said they did not wish to comment on the "live" matter before the Bar Council.

However, in an earlier letter obtained by The Northern Echo, the solicitors apologised for the "technical breach" of the rules governing evidence but insisted this had not prejudiced Mrs Wright-Hogeland in any way.

A spokesman for the Bar Council confirmed that the matter had been referred to the organisation's Professional Conduct and Complaints Committee