Dr Al Hourani was working as a locum surgeon at Fairfield General Hospital A surgeon who cut off a patient's testicle by mistake has been struck off the medical register. Dr Sulieman Al Hourani was only supposed to take out a cyst but removed the whole right testicle instead. The blunder happened at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, Greater Manchester, in September 2007. Dr Al Hourani, who has returned to his native Jordan, was found guilty of misconduct by a General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practise panel. The locum surgeon was struck off in his absence and refused to engage in the proceedings. The patient, known only as patient A, had gone in for the surgery in in September 2007. The panel is of the opinion that a period of conditional registration would not adequately reflect the serious nature of Dr Al Hourani's misconduct

GMC panel Medical notes made it "perfectly clear" the procedure was to be "excision of right epididymal cyst", a disciplinary hearing was told. The hearing was also told that in August 2006, Dr Al Hourani had injected himself with two milligrams (mg) of midazolam, a powerful sedative, which was meant for a patient. Hospital staff said the doctor, who was on call, appeared unsteady on his feet and was later found in the doctors' mess room "deeply asleep" and taken to A&E. Dr Al Hourani was issued with a final warning over that incident but was eventually dismissed by his employers, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, in October 2007 over allegations he stole two boxes of dihydrocodeine tablets. 'Reckless disregard' In its ruling, the panel stated: "The panel is of the opinion that a period of conditional registration would not adequately reflect the serious nature of Dr Al Hourani's misconduct. "The panel notes that Dr Al Hourani has not engaged with the GMC to date and considers that this demonstrates a lack of insight on his part that would make it unlikely that he would comply with any conditions imposed." The panel, sitting in Manchester, added it was "deeply concerned" about the incident in which he gave himself a sedative. It "showed reckless disregard for patient safety", the panel ruled. "The panel is of the opinion that this demonstrates a lack of insight on Dr Al Hourani's part and does not give the panel any confidence that such behaviour would not be repeated. "Although Dr Al Hourani was charged with a single instance of dishonesty, the panel considers the nature of the dishonesty very serious and, combined with the other charges found proved, his behaviour put patients at risk and jeopardised public trust in the profession."



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