PATIENTS of Richard Neale are right to be dissatisfied with the official report into his scandalous career.

Their call for a full public inquiry into how the gynaecologist was able to go on botching operations for decades was ignored. When an inquiry got underway, behind closed doors, its remit was too narrow, ignoring the pivotal role of the General Medical Council.

That Neale's victims are unhappy with the final report condemns it as a partial failure.

Even with its limits, however, the Neale report is a shocking catalogue of complacency and negligence.

It characterised the doctor as "arrogant and overbearing" and condemns the health authorities which allowed him to continue operating despite overwhelming evidence of his incompetence.

Richard Neale's inadequacy as a surgeon is traced back nearly 30 years, when he emigrated to Canada after botching surgery in London.

Despite being struck off in two Canadian provinces he was able to walk into a job at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton.

That was horrifying enough. Even more unforgivable was the failure of the health authorities to act when patients complained.

Neale, his employers and the General Medical Council dismissed the complaints with the godlike arrogance displayed all too often by the higher ranking health professionals.

There are many patients who will live the rest of their lives in constant pain as a result. The inquiry's recommendations must be enacted in full so that the likes of Neale will never slip through the net again.

Updated: 11:06 Friday, September 10, 2004