THE case of Richard Neale, the former Friarage hospital gynaecologist came to a conclusion this week - whether or not it can be considered satisfactory depends on whether you one of Mr Neale's badly-treated patients or one of his former employers.

Nothing can un-botch the operations Mr Neale made a mess of and nothing can restore the health of the women whose lives were blighted as a result. Financial compensation may be of some comfort.

On the positive side, lessons have been learned about inability of the General Medical Council to police all of its members effectively and the flawed relationship between the NHS and its consultants and in particular the contract which led to Mr Neale receiving more than £100,000 from the Northallerton NHS Trust when it was clear he could not continue to work at the Friarage.

The trust management at that time were given legal advice that a pay-off of that size, and a viable employment reference, was the only way it could rid itself of an employee who had become a public liability.

It is also worth noting that even at this stage in the saga, there were still as many female patients of Mr Neale coming forward to vouch for the quality of his work as there were those who were complaining about his surgery. Mr Neale was and is a poor gynaecologist but he was not all bad during his time at the Friarage.

The management acted then in the interests of the Northallerton NHS Trust and its patients, if not in the interests of patients elsewhere. It was, perhaps, mindful that it had not employed Mr Neale (the defunct Yorkshire Regional Health Authority had) and therefore felt it could be excused passing on down the line, to use rugby parlance, the "hospital pass" it had received with Mr Neale's contract and a medical record which was a long way short of acceptable. With the benefit of hindsight, that decision may have been the pragmatic one, but it was morally wrong.

However, calls for trust board to resign are futile and not particularly constructive or fair. Most of the present board was not party to the decisions made about Mr Neale.

The staff and management of the Friarage now have a difficult task ahead re-building whatever confidence may have been lost in their services.

It is a good hospital. This newspaper's support of its Millennium appeal is not given lightly. Neither is the support of the many thousands of people who have done all manner of things to raise money for that appeal, now happily at its target.

It is hoped that community support continues and that the trust's staff can devote their full energies to giving the very best treatment they can to the people of North Yorkshire