Surgeon 'blundered repeatedly'

Christopher Ingoldby faces a raft of charges

A consultant surgeon made a series of blunders while carrying out operations on a dozen patients, a General Medical Council hearing heard on Monday.

Six of those patients who were operated on by Christopher Ingoldby later died.

Mr Ingoldby is accused of serious professional misconduct while working as a gastro-intestinal specialist with the Pinderfields NHS Trust in West Yorkshire. If found guilty, he could be struck off.

The charges cover a wide spectrum relating to the performance of Mr Ingoldby's work before, during and after operations

Vivian Robinson QC

The GMC hearing heard that the operations were carried out over a nine-year period starting in December 1990.

Vivian Robinson, QC for the GMC, said: "The charges cover a wide spectrum relating to the performance of Mr Ingoldby's work before, during and after operations.

"Prior to the operation, he failed to carry out proper investigations and failed to obtain informed consent from a number of patients.

"During operations there were instances of serious surgical error and inadequate operational notes.

"And post operational, there was a substantial number of occasions where Mr Ingoldby failed in his duty for delays in the taking of proper steps with regard to patients under his care."

Mr Ingoldby was suspended on full pay from his job almost four years ago following a series of complaints.

He was sacked by the Trust in July last year after two inquiries into his work.

Cancer patient

Mr Robinson outlined the charges against Mr Ingoldby in detail.

They include:

• Causing damage to the bile-duct of a female patient during an operation to remove gallstones. Following the operation the patient suffered fever, pain and bile fluid discharge but Mr Ingoldby failed to spot the cause of the problem.
• Failing to take appropriate action when a male cancer patient in his mid-sixties suffered complications after an initial operation. The patient later died.
• Failing to order a biopsy, ultrasound or CT scan for a 61-year-old male patient, and failing to recognise the man's spleen had been damaged during surgery.
• Failing to remove a gall bladder during surgery on a male patient. This triggered a series of complications.
• Failing to act in the best interests of a 75-year-old male patient with gastric cancer, who died nine days after surgery.
• Failings in the case of a 64-year-old man who collapsed and died from internal bleeding shortly after surgery - perhaps caused when a tie placed over a vein during the operation slipped.

Mr Ingoldby, of Roundhay, Leeds denies the charge of serious professional misconduct.

The hearing was adjourned until Tuesday.