Bid to extend scandal doctor ban

Professor van Velzen stockpiled children's organs

The General Medical Council is applying to the High Court for an extension to a suspension order against a doctor at the centre of the Alder Hey scandal.

Professor Dick van Velzen was banned from carrying out any medical work in the UK in 2001, after a report into the retention of children's organs.

The 54-year-old is now thought to be living abroad in Holland.

He was suspended from practising medicine in the UK in February 2001 but that order expires on 1 August.

Quick action

But following a meeting of the GMC's Interim Orders Committee, it was decided that an application would be made to allow the suspension to be extended.

The committee was set up to allow the GMC to take interim action against a doctor more quickly than previously allowed.

Van Velzen was the central figure in the Alder Hey inquiry.

He told the BBC he had removed and retained the organs of 845 children at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, in Liverpool, where he was the senior pathologist from 1988-1995.

He claimed this was because the hospital had not given him the resources to carry out detailed post mortem examinations.

In January it emerged van Velzen's wife, Dr Lynne Ball, is also being investigated by the GMC.