EMBATTLED hospital bosses have been accused of taking on a team of spin doctors to cope with the aftermath of the Richard Neale scandal.

Northallerton's Friarage Hospital has engaged a professional public relations firm in what has been seen as an attempt at damage limitation, after their former head of maternity was found guilty of botching a string of operations.

Now the hospital has come under renewed fire for spending public money on the external consultants.

Operations director Steve Spoerry declined to reveal the cost of hiring the press handling team, but the total runs into thousands of pounds.

Graham Maloney, spokes-man for the 200-strong group of former patients who campaigned for an inquiry into Mr Neale's conduct, criticised the trust for using cash for public relations instead of health care. He said: "This is not going to help the people who use the hospital and it doesn't suggest they're doing everything they can to protect patients.

"I find it extraordinary that they are employing a public relations firm. Are they frightened of telling of truth?"

Mr Spoerry said the PR firm Atlas had been brought in to deal with the volume of calls when Richard Neale was struck off by the General Medical Council when 34 allegations against him by former patients were found proven.

He said: "It was a combination of the sheer volume of inquiries we were expecting, and the likelihood that it would be difficult to handle some of those inquiries that we thought needed expert advice. We were at the centre of international media attention and in those circumstances we thought we had to get a bit more professional about how we handled that. We are a small hospital, mostly dealing with local media and most of the time we can handle it ourselves. Rich-ard Neale was quite exceptional in the experience of the hospital."

He said the PR firm could be engaged again to deal with media inquiries over the outcome of the hospital's internal investigation into Neil Hebblethwaite.

The consultant gynaecologist, Mr Neale's successor at the Friarage, has been accused of having an improper relationship with a patient, and the investigation findings are expected to be completed next month.