THE nation's chief medical officer has been advised to take legal advice over his involvement in the Richard Neale scandal, it was revealed last night.

Professor Liam Donaldson was a senior NHS figure in the North-East at the time questions were being asked about the disgraced surgeon.

The revelation will increase pressure on the Department of Health to grant a full public inquiry into all aspects of the Neale scandal.

A copy of an internal Department of Health document obtained by The Northern Echo confirms that Prof Donaldson has been advised to seek legal advice because of his position as chief executive of Northern and Yorkshire Regional Health Authority in the mid-1990s.

At that time, complaints about the surgeon at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, who had already been struck off in Canada, were steadily mounting.

A year later the Friarage agreed to give the surgeon a good reference and a golden handshake worth £100,000 to persuade him to move on.

After a long campaign by former patients, Mr Neale was brought before the GMC in 2000. He was found guilty of botching a string of operations and was struck off the medical register.

So far, Prof Donaldson has refused to allow a full public inquiry into the Neale affair, although last week the group were asked if they would accept a private inquiry chaired by a senior lawyer rather than an NHS official.

Campaigners want to know why Mr Neale was not stopped at an earlier stage and why officials failed to act over tip-offs from Canada.

The memo from Janet Walden, head of investigations at the Department of Health, to Prof Donaldson's personal assistant, Rachel Dickson, states: "It is possible that the issue of Prof Donaldson's subsequent involvement in the decisions to go for private inquiries could be raised during the judicial review process . . . Mark Gidden a solicitor is aware of the issue, and will provide advice should Professor Donaldson wish to proceed."

Graham Maloney, spokesman for the patients of Mr Neale, said: "Nothing less than a full public inquiry is acceptable. If necessary we will seek a judicial review to get what we want."

A Department of Health spokesman said Prof Donaldson was never in a position of accountability for Mr Neale's employment conduct.

"When fuller details of his past history, including specific incidents, were put into the public domain in 1998, Professor Donaldson asked for Dr Neale's past employment records," he added.

"Professor Donaldson subsequently made a report to the Department of Health."