Mr Rodney Ledward, the gynaecologist who was the subject last week of an adverse official report on his practice, is under investigation by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, since he is registered as a pharmacist in Britain. He registered in 1960, five years before he qualified as a doctor.
A statement issued by the Society on June 6 said that it was to consider what bearing his conduct as a surgeon and the findings of the Department of Health report on his practice had on his registration.
The Society said that it was not aware of Mr Ledward having recently practised as a pharmacist in Britain. It added that serious issues would arise if he had because the Code of Ethics said that no pharmacist should accept employment as a sole pharmacist in charge of a community or hospital pharmacy without having had substantial experience within the past five years or having undertaken training to ensure current competence.
Mr Ledward was struck from the medical register in 1998 after the General Medical Council's professional conduct committee found him guilty of serious professional misconduct. It had heard evidence of preoperative lack of care and judgment, failings in surgical skill, inappropriate delegation and poor postoperative care and judgment. It ruled that his practice fell lamentably below that which the public required and the medical profession expected.
The Society did not realise at that time that he was a pharmacist and only came to do so after the publication of the report last week.
The Department of Health report, published on June 1, found that Mr Ledward had been able to continue in practice for a substantial period because no-one was prepared to take charge when problems came to light and nothing effective was done in response to those who tried to raise the alarm. It said that consultants were treated as gods, that junior staff were afraid of telling tales and that failures in senior National Health Service management, an old boys' network and a climate of fear and retribution, prevented colleagues from reporting concerns about Mr Ledward's skills.
Mr Ledward is also registered as a pharmacist with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, having used his Society registration to achieve Irish registration under European Community regulations on the mutual recognition of qualifications.