Letters - So grateful to The Northern Echo
12/08/2005

It is hard to believe that five years have elapsed since Richard Neale was struck off the British Medical Register;

even harder to believe that it is seven years since we formed the Action and Support Group for Medical Victims of Richard Neale back in September 1998.

Without the help of The Northern Echo, the full story of the Richard Neale scandal and all its ramifications might never have been told. Over those seven long years of our campaign our fight for the truth to come out and for justice for Neale's injured patients and their families, The Northern Echo has been with us every step of the way.

We fought together to discover the truth behind the Richard Neale scandal; and whenever each new twist and turn of the scandal was revealed, we could rely on The Northern Echo to make it public knowledge.

We want to thank the newspaper for its unwavering support throughout our campaign; for its detailed and dedicated research and its unflinching reporting of every aspect of the Richard Neale scandal. Our particular thanks go to the Health Editor, Barry Nelson, for meticulously researching and reporting on this story as it unfolded.

Our campaign has involved a long, hard and, at times, bitter battle to get at the truth and to find justice for the injured former patients of Richard Neale. We could not have wished for a more tenacious, more determined or more effective ally than The Northern Echo to stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our campaign.

Now that our specific campaign to stop Neale has been successful, we like to think that our extended campaign will result in real improvements in the way in which this country deals with dangerous doctors in the future. We like to think real changes will be made to protect all patients from rogue doctors in the future. We like to think it will result in a change in attitude among medical professionals who will no longer find it acceptable to turn a blind eye to colleagues who are putting patients at risk, but who will instead feel compelled to protect patients by blowing the whistle on dangerous doctors. We like to think that the GMC, the NHS and the Department of Health will henceforth act swiftly and effectively to eradicate rogue doctors permanently from our hospitals, from the health service and from private practice.

If all these goals are achieved in the coming years, we have one newspaper to thank above all the others which reported the Richard Neale scandal - The Northern Echo. The Northern Echo is certainly not called "Your campaigning newspaper" for nothing. Thank you.

- Sheila WrightHogeland, Chair Founder, Graham Maloney, Treasurer and Campaign Advisor, The Action and Support Group for Medical Victims of Richard Neale.