Panel eases conditions on botched op surgeon

Nayef El-Barghouty was banned from practising for a year in July 2011 after he was found guilty of misconduct and dishonesty over three cases at Scarborough’s hospital.

In one, he mistakenly operated in the wrong area to repair an aneurysm of an 82-year-old grandfather, and hours later carried out a second procedure which led to torrential bleeding causing the patient’s death. He was also found to have lied at an inquest into the death. In another case, he botched a routine operation to remove a mother-of-two’s thyroid gland, severely damaging nerves linked to her vocal cords. He was later sacked.

A fitness to practise hearing by a panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester heard from the surgeon via telephone from Saudi Arabia where he is head of surgery at a hospital, supervising other clinicians and again carrying out thyroid operations. He said he had submitted “numerous” applications to work in the NHS but had not been successful.

The panel ruled his fitness to practise was no longer impaired by dishonesty but despite maintaining his clinical skills, it said concerns remained.

It told him it was imposing 13 conditions on his work if he got a job in the UK, down from 21 restrictions previously in place, to ensure “you no longer pose any risk to patient safety”.