Detectives from the New South Wales police child abuse and sex crimes squad have launched a strike force to investigate the disgraced gynaecologist Emil Shawky Gayed and his scores of alleged victims.

A Guardian Australia investigation revealed Gayed needlessly removed women’s reproductive organs and performed unnecessary surgeries on his patients. Other women were allegedly left with life-threatening infections. One of his patients died. Most of his patients were treated in the regional NSW town of Taree, where Gayed worked for almost 20 years in private practice and at the Manning Rural Referral public hospital.

The revelations triggered the NSW government to order an independent inquiry into Gayed, the hospitals where he worked and the way complaints against him were managed. The inquiry was led by the high-profile lawyer Gail Furness SC, who delivered her findings in February. Furness also referred the treatment of more than 50 women to the Health Care Complaints Commission for further investigation and, in a rare move, handed her report over to NSW police. She found his actions may have contributed to the death of a baby boy.

While Furness uncovered Gayed’s incompetence, the mismanagement of complaints against him, and widespread harm to his patients spanning decades, only police can determine if his actions were potentially criminal, and if there is enough evidence to launch a criminal investigation.

On Friday a NSW police spokeswoman confirmed police had finished considering the Furness report findings and had decided to launch an official investigation.

“In April 2019, detectives from the child abuse and sex crimes squad established Strike Force Noongale to investigate reports of misconduct by a doctor following a referral from the NSW Health Care Complains Commission,” the spokeswoman said. “As the investigation is ongoing, no further information is available at this time.”

Several women treated by Gayed have begun receiving letters asking for written consent for their medical records to be passed on to detectives from Strike Force Noongale, and for permission for police to contact them.

In her inquiry Furness found: “Of most concern is that a repeated theme has been the unnecessary removal of organs, unnecessary or wrong procedures, perforations of organs and reluctance to transfer to tertiary facilities”.

“The health system failed each of these women,” her report found, recommending various health system reforms to ensure greater oversight of doctors, especially in rural and regional areas.

Five separate law firms are also representing more than 60 women between them who have commenced legal action against Gayed.

Carroll & O’Dea lawyers are representing dozens of Gayed’s victims and Justine Anderson, who is leading the case, said she was unsure what allegations police were investigating.

“This is the first we have heard from the police since the media release accompanying the published Furness report said they were handing her report to them,” Anderson said. “Criminal negligence has a very high legal threshold to meet. Much higher than civil negligence.”

In the meantime, she said she was having difficulty obtaining medical records for her clients from Gayed.

“It’s taken longer than what our clients would have liked to get their records from Dr Gayed, but we are very grateful for the cooperation of the lawyers representing him,” she said. “They have clearly been making some significant efforts to get the records and pass them on to me, but the hardest task for them is some of the records date back many years.”

Do you know more? melissa.davey@theguardian.com