UNDER-FIRE medical chiefs have confirmed that a loophole which could allow surgeons like Richard Neale to operate in the UK will shortly be closed.

From November 1, the General Medical Council (GMC) will be able accept the verdict of foreign disciplinary bodies without having to re-hear allegations of serious professional misconduct.

Until then, doctors found guilty of serious misconduct charges in their own countries will not be automatically barred from practising in Britain.

The new rule, introduced after publicity surrounding the Neale scandal, has taken several years to be ratified, requiring legislation on the way.

Victims of the former surgeon at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, were horrified to discover that Neale was allowed to continue to operate on women in Britain even after he was struck off in Canada following the deaths of two patients.

Neale was eventually struck off the British medical register in the summer of 2001, but only after sustained campaigning and lobbying by a group of former patients headed by Sheila Wright-Hogeland, from near Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire.

The patient group has been strongly critical of the GMC, calling on the Government to look again at the question of whether the medical profession should regulate its own members.

Their calls were given fresh impetus by last week's publication of the independent inquiry report into the way the NHS handled complaints against Neale.

Although the brunt of criticism was borne by NHS officials and doctors, the report highlighted the failure of the GMC to take effective action against Neale, despite mounting complaints.

Victims were angered earlier this year when the GMC admitted an administrative blunder meant that the regulatory body did not realise that the Neale struck off in Canada was the same surgeon working in Northallerton.

That error delayed action against Neale by at least ten years.

As part of the fall-out from the high-profile Neale affair, the GMC announced that it would overhaul its relationship with sister bodies around the world.

A GMC spokeswoman said: "We take overseas notifications extremely seriously and, from November 1, we will be able to act on an overseas body's decision. Rather than having to hear the case all over again, we will be able to accept the overseas ruling."