A FORMER North Yorkshire surgeon is facing a General Medical Council inquiry over a complaint about his operating record.

The disciplinary hearing comes just weeks after disgraced consultant Richard Neale was struck off following a series of botched operations at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton.

But the charge against Dr Nigel Clark relates to just one operation, compared with the 34 complaints found proved against Mr Neale.

Dr Clark, who now lives in Guernsey, was based at the Duchess of Kent Military Hospital in Catterick from September 1997 to September 1999.

The General Medical Council's professional conduct committee will next week consider allegations that Dr Clark removed a mole from a patient's forehead without her consent and without enough medical or surgical justification.

If proved, the allegations would amount to serious professional misconduct and could see Dr Clark struck off the medical register.

A GMC spokeswoman said they were unable to give further details before the hearing, expected to start on Monday.

She said the complaint related to medical practice in North Yorkshire, but declined to confirm the hospital involved.

GMC guidance to doctors states that they must obtain consent for treatment or investigations and the council has confirmed that a breach of this guidance could amount to serious professional misconduct.

A spokeswoman said: "A doctor would have to justify why they did what they did.

"If a doctor does something without consent, they are not automatically guilty. If they are able to justify why they breached our guidance, it is not necessarily misconduct."

She said if a doctor is found guilty, the punishments available to the GMC range from an admonishment to suspension, or removal from the medical register.

Dr Clark declined to discuss the allegations in advance of the hearing, which is expected to last a day.

He said: "Obviously I don't want to comment. I will be legally represented."

The Duchess of Kent Hospital closed to inpatients last year, with the military surgical teams transferring to the Friarage Hospital.

Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Solly, in charge of the military unit at the Friarage, said he was unable to comment.