Epilepsy doctor to launch appeal

Dr Holton was suspended from Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2001

A doctor who wrongly diagnosed hundreds of children is challenging a decision ordering him to retrain.

Dr Andrew Holton gave wrong diagnoses of epilepsy to 618 children in Leicestershire between 1990 and 2001.

The General Medical Council ruled in January that his performance was "seriously deficient" and imposed conditions on his practice.

Those conditions have not yet come into effect and his appeal will be heard at the Court of Appeal.

'We are stunned'

Trevor Parr, father of a boy who was misdiagnosed, said: "I am slightly stunned - we understood that not many conditions were put on him - and he was virtually free to continue his retraining and go back into the wide world.

"We will go to the appeal hearing and put forward our views.

"Other parents are equally stunned - they thought they could get on with their lives, but the battle goes on."

Dr Holton worked at the Leicester Royal Infirmary for 11 years, but was suspended on full pay in 2001.

He has since moved to another practice.

In a statement after its January decision, the General Medical Council's fitness-to-practise panel said: "Having found that the standard of your professional performance has been seriously deficient, the panel considered whether it is sufficient to direct that your registration should be subject to conditions.

"It decided that conditions are sufficient and necessary for the protection of the public and are proportionate."

The conditions included ongoing assessments and improvement of his skills in communication with patients.