FURTHER meetings with former patients of disgraced North Yorkshire gynaecologist Richard Neale are to take place next month as part of the ongoing inquiry into how the NHS handled complaints against him.

Inquiry chairman Suzan Matthews, QC, said informal meetings would take place throughout Yorkshire in January as part of the information gathering exercise.

She said: "We had very useful meetings in York earlier this month at which we met patients and NHS staff and others, and we were able to reassure the patients in particular that our inquiry will be robust and comprehensive.

"All the three panel members are determined to undertake a thorough investigation of how complaints by patients and others into Richard Neale's performance were treated by NHS bodies.

"We believe there are other people still to come forward, who would help us in our task, and so we have decided to set up another set of informal meetings in Yorkshire in mid- January. Anyone who would like to attend is asked to phone the inquiry office on 0207 972 2400."

Mr Neale, of Langthorpe, near Boroughbridge, who practised at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, between 1985 and 1995, was struck off in 2000 for botching a series of operations.

He had previously been struck off in Canada after the death of a patient.

The independent inquiry, which has attracted criticism because it is being held in private, was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn.

It is specifically looking at the way the NHS handled the allegations about the performance and conduct of Mr Neale during his employment as a consultant in the NHS, rather than Mr Neale's actual performance and conduct itself.

Updated: 09:59 Saturday, December 28, 2002