Former Bundaberg-based surgeon Jayant Patel has been remanded in custody after being found guilty of three counts of manslaughter and one count of grievous bodily harm.

The jury took six-and-a-half days to reach the verdict and handed down its decision in the Supreme Court in Brisbane this evening.

Patel, 60, had pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of 75-year-old Mervyn Morris, 77-year-old Gerardus Kemps and 46-year-old James Phillips.

Patel stood with his head slightly bowed and appeared calm as the verdicts were read out, while his wife Dr Kishoree Patel looked on from a packed public gallery.

The wife of Mr Kemps and patient advocate Beryl Crosby also looked on.

For Ms Crosby, the outcome brings a sense of closure to what has been a long journey.

"This wasn't just about these five cases this was about all the people that died, all the people that were harmed by him and this is justification and justice for all those people," Ms Crosby said.

Warning to others

There were cheers and hugging inside the Bundaberg court house as the verdicts were read out via live video link.

Whistleblower nurse Toni Hoffman says she feels vindicated by the decision.

"It's vindication and it's relief, but the price that you have to pay is too great and we shouldn't have to do that," she said.

Ms Hoffman says says it is the end of a chapter she can now close, but the verdict is a warning to others.

"This is a message to dodgy doctors everywhere," she said.

"Just so, so grateful that in Australia we can still have justice - this is a huge victory for patient safety," she said.

"For patient advocacy and for standing up and for speaking out for what's right and I think there's huge lessons to be learnt for all of us."

Sentencing

Patel will again face court on Thursday when the sentencing process begins.

His lawyer Michael Byrne is expected to seek bail for his client pending an appeal of tonight's decision.

The prosecution had argued Patel was criminally negligent in operating on all three men, who later died.

Patel was also charged with causing grievous bodily harm to 62-year-old Ian Vowles while a surgeon at Bundaberg Hospital.

His defence claimed Patel had always acted in the best interests of his patients, who had consented to the operations.

But prosecutor Ross Martin, who characterised Patel as a "bad surgeon motivated by ego and suffering from lack of insight", urged the jury to return guilty verdicts on all charges.

He told the jury the trial was about "judgments" and that Patel's negligence extended to his poor decisions about when to operate, and his choices about appropriate post-operative care.

In summing up last Wednesday, Justice John Byrne reminded the jury that Mr Martin neatly summarised the crown's allegations when he said: "Over 19 to 20 months there had been poor decision-making, misdiagnosis, performing surgery on patients who could not withstand it, performing surgery at the wrong hospital and the removal of healthy organs".

However, Patel's defence team had urged the jury to find Patel not guilty, saying he always acted in the best interests of his patients.

Defence barrister Michael Byrne, QC, told the jury much of the evidence presented by the crown during the marathon trial had been fuelled by "a great deal of second-guessing and use of hindsight".

"With hindsight it may have been the wrong call [to operate on Mr Kemps] but that does not make the decision criminally negligent," Mr Byrne said.

Justice Byrne warned the jury against using the benefit of hindsight in making their judgment about whether or not Patel was criminally negligent in proceeding with the operations.

Long-running case

Patel arrived in the sugar town of Bundaberg in early 2003 and began work as a surgeon at the Bundaberg Base Hospital.

The controversy surrounding him flared when the Member for Burnett, Rob Messenger, raised concerns about his competence in State Parliament in 2005.

Mr Messenger had been told about the concerns by senior nurse Toni Hoffman at the hospital.

In April that year Patel resigned and left the country to return to Portland in the United States.

Intense media scrutiny began after it was revealed the 60-year-old had been banned from performing some surgery in the United States because of negligence.

As the public pressure mounted, the State Government, led by former premier Peter Beattie, announced an inquiry to be headed by Tony Morris QC.

That inquiry was axed in September 2005 after the Supreme Court ruled Commissioner Morris showed ostensible bias.

A second inquiry headed by former Court of Appeal Judge Geoff Davies AO then began.

In November 2006 warrants were issued for Patel's arrest on 16 charges including manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and fraud.

Extradition proceedings began in 2007 and Patel arrived back in Brisbane in July 2008.

He faced a committal hearing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court in February 2009 and was committed to stand trial on 13 charges including three counts of manslaughter.

His Supreme Court trial began in Brisbane in March 2010 and has become one of the longest Supreme Court criminal trials in Queensland's history.

- ABC/AAP