CAMPAIGNERS have uncovered new evidence supporting the view that disgraced surgeon Richard Neale should never have been given a consultant's job in the region.

The revelation will fuel anger among hundreds of his victims, who have asked why a surgeon struck off in Canada for the death of two patients was inflicted on patients in North Yorkshire.

The disclosure brought new calls for those responsible to be brought to account, nearly 20 years after Neale was hired.

Despite an independent inquiry being ordered by the Government, no one involved in the decision to hire Neale - as medical authorities in Canada were in the process of striking him off - has been censured in any way.

An investigation by Graham Maloney, advisor to the Neale ex-patient group, has found that the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, hired Neale as a consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician in 1985, even though he was not accredited by the relevant royal college.

At that time, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) provided guidelines to hospitals that all consultant appointments in this speciality should not only be members of the college but be accredited by it. Accreditation meant that the doctor had undergone what was referred to as "higher training".

While Neale was a member of the RCOG, he was not accredited.

Mr Maloney, who is also pressing North Yorkshire Police to take a fresh look at false claims made by Neale during his career in the Northallerton area, said: "The guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was ignored by the people who employed Neale in 1985.

"Neale did not have a certificate of accreditation from that college. Taking into account Neale's history, he should never have been employed as a specialist at all."

Mr Maloney said it was more evidence of the "slapdash" way in which Neale was taken on.

"Why didn't they properly check out his references," he said.

Apart from failing to ask for a certificate of accreditation, the trust failed to heed warnings from Neale's former colleagues in Canada. It even provided the surgeon with a reference when he returned to Canada to try to overturn the decision to strike him off.

That bid was unsuccessful. But undeterred by this outcome, and further damning words from the authorities in Canada, the trust promoted Neale to head of department.