The GMC is considering legal changes which would allow it to automatically strike off doctors placed on the sex offenders register, following the William Kerr affair.

And it has revealed that had the current rules permitted it, Dr Kerr's name would have been removed from the medical register as soon as the outcome of his trial at Leeds Crown Court last December was known.

The retired York psychiatrist, 75, of Alne, near Easingwold, was placed on the sex offenders' register after a jury found during a "hearing of fact" that he had indecently assaulted a former patient.

But he was not given a criminal record because a previous jury had decided he was not fit to plead.

The General Medical Council recently suspended Dr Kerr from the register, and is being asked by the former Clifton Hospital consultant to let his name be voluntarily erased.

A former patient of Dr Kerr, Patricia Harrison, revealed yesterday that she had received a letter from a GMC employee saying: "The legal rules under which we operate do not, I am afraid, allow us to remove a doctor from the register purely on the basis that he or she has been placed on the sex offenders register.

"If the rules did cater for this, I assure you that Dr Kerr's name would have been removed as soon as the outcome of the trial was known.

"In the event, we are discussing with our lawyers the possibility of seeking an amendment to the law in the light of this case."

Patricia, whose allegation of indecent assault against Dr Kerr was found unproven by the jury and who has now waived her right of anonymity to the Evening Press, said: "He should have been struck off as soon as he was placed on the sex offenders' register."

Speaking during a meeting in Harrogate of a mutual support group for former patients, she also said a Department of Health inquiry into issues raised by the Kerr case should be held in public. "It has all been hidden for too long."

Her views won strong backing from other former patients, including Lynne Hudson, whose allegation of rape against Dr Kerr could not be decided upon by the jury.

She said she was delighted by news that the inquiry would be an extensive and in-depth affair.

Mark Kennedy, of Harrogate and District Community Health Council, welcomed the news of the inquiry as a "very positive step."

He said he understood the inquiry would look into the role of other health professionals during Dr Kerr's career in North Yorkshire, "looking at what they did and did not do" when they became aware of allegations against the consultant.

Updated: 11:12 Friday, April 27, 2001