'Concerns' raised about jailed surgeon Sudip Sarker Published duration 15 October 2018

image copyright Other image caption Sudip Sarker was jailed in February

A surgeon jailed for lying about his qualifications had been cleared to work as a consultant despite "damning statements" from colleagues, an inquest has heard.

An inquest is being held into the deaths of three of his patients.

The hearing in Worcestershire was told "grave concerns" were raised about "pathological liar" Sarker.

The inquest, into the deaths of William Jones, 84, Daphne Taylor, 81, and Jean Thomas, 80, continues.

The comments about Sarker were made by five health professionals after he began his training in Essex in the early 2000s, Worcestershire Coroner's Court was told.

Before the 48-year-old completed his training in colorectal surgery, colleagues had said he "should not be allowed anywhere near a patient".

Other concerns included a letter to a regulatory body describing him as "a lost cause" who could not "become a reliable surgeon".

Coroner Geraint Williams said he said he felt the certificate given to Sarker at the end of his training had "just been rubber-stamped".

'Complains and threatens'

The inquest was told Sarker had also threatened legal action before being approved as a qualified surgeon by a health service training body in 2009.

His trial in February heard he reportedly told interviewers in 2011 he had performed 85 keyhole bowel operations, 51 of them working solo, when in fact the true figure was just six.

He was appointed to an £84,000 job at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, but immediately struggled.

Mr Williams said of the concerns raised by colleagues: "These are words in the strongest of terms by a number of people over a number of years.

"And yet Mr Sarker is allowed to continue, as far as I can see, with no one picking up that these are worrying things.

"The overall sense I get from the papers is that this is a man who has manipulated all along.

"If things are not going well for Mr Sarker he complains about supervisors and threatens legal action."