Anger after breast surgeon reprimand

The surgeon was reprimanded

The General Medical Council has again come under fire after its decision not to strike off a surgeon who was found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

William Thomson, 52, wrongly removed a patient's healthy breast without first conducting conducting a biopsy.

The council's conduct committee said he failed to give his patient enough information before she consented to have the surgery.

Mr Thomson was issued with a reprimand despite it emerging that he was already on a final written warning from Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride.

Mr Thomson: Criticised by campaign

Delyth Morgan of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: "This is an appalling case which must never be allowed to happen again.

"For several years there has been clear written guidelines on how best to confirm a diagnosis of breast cancer. This recommends a 'triple assessment' consisting of a clinical examination, mammogram or ultrasound and a fine-needle biopsy.

"No woman should have to face the prospect of such a distressing experience."

The case has again raised questions over the effectiveness of the GMC in policing its members.

A report by the Policy Studies Institute - ordered after the Harold Shipman case - hightlighted a number of weaknesses in the system.

Tests later showed the lump was benign

The author, Professor Isobel Allan, said: "What we found was that there was no evidence of discrimination or racial bias, but there was still questions of whether the GMC's disciplinary procedures are consistent, transparent and fair to all doctors and all patients.

"One of the problems is that, it (the disciplinary system) is really quite a complicated procedure and at certain stages they don't keep a formal record of the decisions.

"At the conduct committee, the final stages of the procedure, they do keep a formal record, but earlier on there is no formal record of the reasons why some doctors are referred to the conduct committee and others aren't.

"I don't think there is an old boy network. I think all the people who act as screeners take their work extremely seriously and there is no evidence whatsoever of an old boy network."