A full-scale Commons debate could be held into the controversy surrounding North-East gynaecologist Richard Neale, the Government signalled yesterday.

Dr Neale, who practised at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton in North Yorkshire after being struck off the Canadians' doctors' register, is undergoing a disciplinary hearing at the General Medical Council (GMC).

The doctor, of Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, who denies serious professional misconduct, faces 35 allegations relating to 14 women patients.

But yesterday, the Government signalled that Health Secretary Alan Milburn would back calls for a full Commons debate on the issue after the GMC inquiry had finished.

After Vale of York Tory MP Anne McIntosh had called for such a debate, Commons Leader Margaret Beckett said she felt confident that Mr Milburn, MP for Darlington, "would share your wish for the matter to be discussed here".

However, Mrs Beckett said she was unable to say when the debate would take place