Neale victims win lawyer battle
Barry Nelson
13/03/2002

The victims of disgraced surgeon Richard Neale have been backed by the Legal Ombudsman in a dispute over "aggressive" defence lawyers.

The row, which dates back to the July 2000 hearing which saw the North Yorkshire surgeon struck off, highlights the difficulties facing patients who complain against doctors.

Patient watchdogs said vulnerable patients must be given a fair hearing, if major medical negligence cases are to be avoided in future.

Former patients of Mr Neale were so angered by allegedly aggressive questioning by barrister Malcolm Fortune that they complained to the Bar Council. While Mr Fortune admitted a technical breach of the rules governing evidence, the Bar Council formally dismissed the complaints against him.

Graham Maloney, advisor to the victims of Mr Neale, immediately complained to the Legal Ombudsman. Last night, Mr Maloney said he was "absolutely delighted" at learning that the Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, had ruled in the patients' favour.

In her report, Mrs Abraham said she was not satisfied that the Bar Council had dealt adequately with the complaints and recommended that they reconsider them.

She queried why the Bar Council discounted the evidence of the GMC committee chairman that Mr Fortune "had been more aggressive in his questioning than had been required and had caused ... unnecessary distress".

She also expressed concern that Mr Fortune did not obtain full consent to use extracts from former patient Sheila Wright-Hogeland's diary and that the chairman of the Bar Council did not withdraw, even though he knew Mr Fortune.

Mr Maloney said: "It is a hostile arena when you are giving evidence to the GMC, but it is not fair that spirited members of the public, who only want the truth to be known, had to sit there and take it."

Katherine Murphy, spokesman for the Patients Association, said: "The GMC should take note of this. We had hoped things were changing for the better."

Murray Benham, of the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales, said: "People in the professions need to be aware that complaints are a way of bringing to light problems so people are not able to get away with terrible things."

The Bar Council said it was considering its response. A spokesman at Mr Fortune's chambers said he was unavailable for comment.

A spokeswoman for the General Medical Council said: "We do have a legal assistant who sits through all our hearings and, as happened in this case, they intervene when necessary."

While the GMC tried to prevent aggressive questioning of witnesses "at the moment we are satisfied with the arrangements we have".