Suspended surgeon's cover by locum cost £270,000

New figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post show that 270,000 was spent by Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on paying a surgeon to stand in for Puvaneswary Markandoo, who was suspended from July 2006 to October 2008.

Ms Markandoo was suspended on full pay – on a salary of up to 122,000 a year – after 35 women came forward to complain about problems after their breast surgery.

In total, therefore, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust paid out in the region of half a million pounds to the two doctors before Ms Markandoo left the trust in October 2008.

A locum doctor covered her work from November 2006 until that date.

A spokesman for campaign group Patient Concern said: "It is a disgrace that someone can injure numbers of patients, then sit at home for two years on an enormous salary, meanwhile costing the NHS large amounts in compensation – then get a slap on the wrist from the GMC and be allowed to go back to work.

"We have to wonder just who is protecting patients."

Some 27 women, most of whom had reconstructive operations carried out by Ms Markandoo after receiving treatment for breast cancer, have received compensation from Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust because of problems with their treatment.

The total compensation bill has already topped a million pounds and two cases are still yet to be settled.

A grandmother from Barnsley, who recently received compensation totalling five figures from the trust, after discovering that much of the breast cancer treatment she received was unnecessary.

She was diagnosed with cancer in 2005 and referred to Barnsley Hospital. The 52-year-old should have undergone surgery to remove the cancerous lump and had tissue samples taken to see if the cancer had spread, but instead Ms Markandoo performed more extensive surgery, involving the removal of lymph nodes.

The patient, who does not want to be named, said: "It has been an absolute nightmare which is still having an effect on me today.

"Anyone who has had cancer knows that it turns your world upside down. To find out years after undergoing surgery that much of that treatment was unnecessary is indescribable."

The error was only discovered after the woman responded to an appeal in 2007 for former patients of Ms Markandoo to come forward after several other complaints were made.

Some 29 women proceeded with compensation claims, although four of those claims were discontinued because of lack of evidence.

In 2008, the General Medical Council found Ms Markandoo to be deficient in 11 areas of her job including basic and specialist surgery, arranging treatment, referring patients, relationships with colleagues and working within laws and regulations.

The GMC ruled that she was in future only permitted to practise in the NHS – not privately –

and then only under a number of conditions, such as supervision and retraining, which are not available in the private sector.

Ms Markandoo's case was never referred to a fitness to practice hearing, as those conditions were regarded as being sufficient.

Conservative councillor Paul Hand-Davis, who sits on Barnsley Council, said that cases like this prove that the Coalition government needs to look at the money spent by the NHS.

He said: "We have to look at NHS spending more closely and be aware of any mismanagement.

"We need to see where cuts need to be made and ensure that everything that needs looking at, is looked at."