A CONSULTANT surgeon has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a patient he had been treating died, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The surgeon, who has not been identified, is at the centre of an investigation into the death of 60-year-old Alan Dunn at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Ambulance staff and police were called to Mr Dunn's home in Barrington Terrace, Ferryhill, County Durham, at about 7.30am on Saturday, December 10.

He had stabbed himself in the chest in an apparent suicide bid.

The hospital porter, from Bishop Auckland Hospital, was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital with the knife still in his chest.

Police who attended the house Mr Dunn shares with his wife accompanied him and the ambulance crew to the hospital.

It is thought that Mr Dunn died at the hospital when the knife was removed from his chest.

On December 30, an unidentified 61-year-old consultant surgeon attended Newton Aycliffe police station by agreement.

The surgeon, who was accompanied by his solicitor, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

An inquest into Mr Dunn's death opened at Crook coroner's office on January 13, but the verdict is as yet unknown.

Lee Dunn, Mr Dunn's eldest son, said yesterday: "I will be attending the inquiry to find out exactly what has been going on with regards to the death of my father, but at the moment we just want the matter resolved satisfactorily.

"My dad died in December. It is now March and we are still no further forward as to finding out how he died.

"It came as a complete shock that he tried to kill himself, and now we have found out that something untoward may have happened, and that perhaps he could have been saved.

"It is not going to get my dad back, but if something has been messed up we would like to know how and why."

A police spokesman said: "We can confirm a 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and interviewed in connection with Mr Dunn.

"He has been released on police bail until later this month while inquiries continue.

"We have taken a number of statements from staff at the hospital, but the inquiries have not been completed yet."

The spokesman confirmed the arrested man was a consultant surgeon with the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospital NHS Trust.

A trust spokesman said: "We are co-operating fully with the police investigation. We can't comment further at this stage. We would like to express our sincere condolences to Alan's family."

Lee Dunn added: "He was a popular man, and that was obvious when you saw how well attended his funeral was and how shocked everyone was when they found out.

"I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with him in the run up to his death.

"I will remember him as a traditional father figure who went out to work to support his family."

Mr Dunn leaves a wife, a daughter, three sons and seven grandchildren.