Surgeon can keep working
A "clumsy" surgeon who did half of a vasectomy on a patient has been told he can work on after an inquiry into concerns over a series of operations.
Kidderminster Hospital bosses were so concerned they referred Mazin Abduljabbar Ismail, aged 65, who qualified in Baghdad in 1973, to the GMC after three weeks in the job.
He was said to have also bungled a circumcision. Yesterday the General Medical Council ruled his deficient practice was not that serious and there was no evidence of patient harm.
Mr Ismail, of Shelsley Way, Solihull, was banned from surgery but the panel decided his faults were not serious enough to warrant a finding of misconduct.
Chairman Mary Clark-Glass said some concern was expressed about his surgical technique and that he was "thought to be clumsy".
"On the basis of the evidence before it the panel determines that although there have been deficiencies, it does not consider that these are so serious, even when taken individually or together, as to lead to a finding that your fitness to practise is impaired because of your deficient professional performance."
Mr Andrew Hockton, for Dr Ismail, said: "This is a safe doctor who is not exposing patients to risk." He was taken on as a locum staff grade or specialist registrar in urology at Kidderminster in March 2005.
Three out of six circumcisions by Mr Ismail resulted in post-operative complications. Another man only received half a vasectomy when the doctor failed to operate on the other side.
Cases triggered concern as incidents took place in a short period. Trust medical director Dr Charles Ashton wrote to the GMC. However, these did not form any part of charges at the GMC.
