VICTIMS of disgraced North Yorkshire gynaecologist Richard Neale reacted with disbelief and fury today after it emerged he has been working again for the NHS - despite being struck off.

Mr Neale, 54, of Langthorpe, near Boroughbridge, who formerly worked at Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, was banned from operating or treating patients in July 2000 after he was found guilty of 34 charges of botching women's care, leaving 15 of his patients in pain, incontinent, or unable to bear children.

He had worked at Northallerton until 1995 despite having been struck off in Canada.

But last year, Mr Neale found work at the South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Wythenshawe and Withington hospitals, to advise other doctors how to avoid clinical errors and provide high quality care to patients.

In a statement issued today, the trust confirmed it employed Mr Neale on a temporary contract from August 2001 to April this year.

"He held a junior administrative post in the clinical audit department for nine months," the trust said. "He had no clinical responsibilities and no contact with patients."

A Department of Health spokesman said it was "appalled" to hear Neale had been re-employed in the NHS, and the Chief Medical Officer would be looking into the implications of the failures and errors of judgement that led to him being appointed.

Former patient Sheila Wright-Hogeland, from near Kirkbymoorside, a founder of the patients' group which campaigned successfully for Neale to be struck off, said the news was "absolutely deplorable". She said: "To have this man telling other doctors how they should be practising is unbelievable."

Graham Maloney, the adviser to the 250-strong Action and Support Group for Medical Victims of Richard Neale, said the decision to employ the disgraced surgeon was "total madness" and "devastating".

He said: "The only thing he should ever be doing in a hospital is pushing a broom, and that's debatable. We are still trying to pick up the pieces of the mess Neale left across this country, so to find out he's been working in an acute hospital is beyond belief. It is total madness. We just can't believe it."

Updated: 11:37 Thursday, August 01, 2002