FORMER patients of disgraced North Yorkshire gynaecologist Richard Neale this afternoon called for a public inquiry after he was struck off by the General Medical Council.

The GMC action against Neale, 54, of Langthorpe, Boroughbridge, took immediate effect.

Neale, who worked at the Friarage Hospital at Northallerton from January 1985 to the autumn of 1995, was found guilty last week of a catalogue of errors over two decades.

The GMC's decision was welcomed by former patients.

An emotional Marcina Birkett, from Hemingbrough, near Selby, told the Evening Press from the GMC hearing that Neale had got his just desserts, adding: "We feel elated, but quite emotional."

She added: "It's a victory as such, but it's a sweet and sour victory because the damage has been done and it's never going to be the same.

"But you have to have a modicum of satisfaction that justice has been done."

She claimed there had been a "conspiracy" at the Friarage, adding: "We want a public inquiry. The reason why we have this dreadful affair is that somewhere along the line someone has protected Neale.

"That's why we are in this dreadful state we are in and he was allowed to do the damage he has done, because someone hasn't blown the whistle on him at an early stage."

Graham Maloney, a spokesman for some of the ex-patients, said he would be taking up the inquiry call with Tory leader and Northallerton local MP William Hague.

Another ex-patient Pat Looms, 53, from Northallerton, welcomed the decision. She was left with chronic constipation and incontinence after undergoing a hysterectomy and bladder suspension operation by Neale at the Friarage Hospital in 1993.

She said: "I don't like to see anybody with his qualifications getting struck off: it's his whole life.

"But it's my life as well and my life is as important to me as his is to him. There is sense of British justice - at least he won't be able to hurt anyone else."

Neale said: "My family and I are totally devastated by this decision, the events of recent weeks and the two years it has taken to bring evidence before the GMC. My life and career are now in ruins.

"I would like to apologise fully and unreservedly to those patients whose cases have been the subject of this hearing. I am very sorry for the physical and psychological suffering they and their families have endured. It is a tragedy not just for them but for me also.

"However, I hope that the public will accept that, as a committed Christian, I went into medicine and became a surgeon, not to cause pain and suffering but to alleviate it wherever possible."

Police in North Yorkshire are pursuing their own investigations into Neale - including looking at the medical records of former patients who have dued.

Read Pat Loom's full story in tomorrow's Evening Press

PICTURE: Gynaecologist Richard Neale arriving at the General Medical Council in London today. He has been struck off the medical register.