BBC News | UK | Doctor banned over 'serious errors'

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Friday, 10 December, 1999, 23:08 GMT

Doctor banned over 'serious errors'

A doctor has been struck off the medical register after being told his blunders put lives at risk.

Dr Brian Hendley had been found guilty of serious professional misconduct once before, after a mistake which meant a woman had to have several fingers amputated.

And just months after the case was heard by the disciplinary committee of the General Medical Council, he made further errors.

It would not be safe to allow you to continue in medical practice
Professor Kenneth Hobbs

Striking Dr Hendley off the medical register on Friday, committee chairman Professor Kenneth Hobbs said: "The consequences of your failings were that the lives of patients under your care were put at risk.

"The nature of the findings against you, both on this occasion and on your previous appearance before the committee, are extremely serious.

"It would not be safe to allow you to continue in medical practice."

The hearing was attended by Linda Spence, who was forced to have parts of her right hand amputated in 1996 after a mistake by Dr Hendley.

The committee again found Dr Brian Hendley guilty of serious professional misconduct, this time in the cases of three other patients in his care in 1998.

The mistakes came just months after he had appeared before the committee over Mrs Spence's case.

Dr Hendley had been the anaesthetist when Mrs Spence, 48, of Royal Quays, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, had a back operation at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle on 3 January 1996.

Successful appeal

As Mrs Spence was being prepared for surgery, Dr Hendley noticed her fingers turning "mottled green" but did not alert the surgeon during the three hour operation.

As a result, Mrs Spence had to have the fingers and thumb of her right hand amputated.

In November 1997, the GMC's disciplinary committee ordered Dr Hendley, 37, of Nurses Home, Kingston Hospital, south-west London, to undergo further training and banned him from taking locum work.

But he managed to get the ban overturned on appeal at the Privy Council, and during 1998 he worked as a locum at Newham General Hospital and with Kingston NHS Trust.

On Friday he was today found guilty of failing to take adequate steps to monitor a 67-year-old man during a hip operation at Newham in February 1998.

The man suffered cardiac arrest and died nine days later.

'Could have cried'

Dr Hendley was also found guilty of making poor medical notes in a case at Kingston Hospital, and of failing to intubate a female patient at the hospital.

Dr Hendley was cleared of several other charges.

His barrister, Philip Gaisford, told the hearing his client suffered from partial deafness.

Mrs Spence spent Ł900 on hotel bills and travel to attend Dr Hendley's disciplinary hearing.

She said: "I had to see with my own eyes what happened to this man. I could have cried when they struck him off.

"What he did has had a terrible effect on my life and it should never have happened to anyone else - but it did."

Related to this story:
Go ahead for life bans on doctors (02 Nov 99 | Health)
Complaints overwhelm doctors' disciplinary body (26 Aug 99 | Health)
Failing doctors 'will be banned' (10 Feb 99 | Health)
Doctors plan tighter self-regulation (03 Feb 99 | Health)

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