A surgeon has been struck off after a patient who he operated on without permission died.

Abdominal surgeon Gavin Denton, who was a consultant surgeon in Macclesfield Hospital for eight years, has been erased from the medical register following an investigation into the death of a 64-year-old man he operated on at Scunthorpe General Hospital.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing, which took place in Manchester, heard Mr Denton operated beyond his ability on a tumour in the patient’s colon without being instructed to do so by his supervisor and failed to call for assistance when the procedure went wrong. Evidence given at the hearing also stated that despite assessing the patient’s tumour as inoperable, Mr Denton continued operating without informing his supervisor.

As a result of removing the tumour, damage was done to one of the patient’s major blood vessels, he suffered two heart attacks and died.

The MPTS report said: “The tribunal found it incomprehensible that you would think it appropriate to undertake such a significant bowel operation yourself, against established guidelines, with neither consultant supervision nor experienced surgical support from another doctor.

“You acted beyond your competency in undertaking the procedure and missed several opportunities to call for support, even when it would have been clear to you that you had encountered serious complications.

“In all the circumstances, the tribunal was in no doubt that your actions amounted to serious professional misconduct.”

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Mr Denton worked at Macclesfield General Hospital from 1995 until 2003.

He later took up began a post as a locum Consultant General Surgeon at North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust.

He was the subject of a General Medical Council (GMC) investigation in 2004 following the death of Sylvia Cooper, from Barton-Upon-Humber, but he was allowed to continue to practice.

Lawrence Roberts, medical director of the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Hospitals Trust, confirmed Mr Denton is no longer working at Scunthorpe General Hospital.

He said: “We can confirm that the General Medical Council has placed an erasure sanction order on Mr Gavin Denton’s registration and imposed an immediate order of suspension.

“Mr Denton has 28 days to decide whether to appeal this decision. He is not currently practising at the trust.”