A CORONER has called for an urgent investigation at Dewsbury District General Hospital.

The call follows an inquest on a patient who died after an operation by an unqualified consultant.

Dewsbury man John Hetherington, 67, died a month after suffering a massive haemorrhage during the operation to remove a cancerous kidney in February, 2000.

Locum consultant Hurais Syed, who performed the operation, trained in Pakistan, but had not qualified as a consultant in Britain.

He has not worked at the hospital since February, 2000, and is now believed to be in Pakistan.

A Bradford inquest jury yesterday returned a narrative verdict that said Mr Syed should not have been performing such major operations and that the hospital management knew what he was doing but did nothing.

Coroner Roger Whittaker said: "This death should not and need not have occurred.

"I hope urgent inquiries are already proceeding to establish the potential of this. If not, it should be assessed as a matter of extreme urgency."

In 2003 Mr Syed was acquitted at Leeds Crown Court of the manslaughter of Gladys Allen, 78, of Liversedge, who also died of blood loss during a similar operation.

Mr Hetherington's wife, Kathleen, of Ennerdale Road, and daughters Susan Moseley and Wendy Moorhouse said they were devastated by the death and disturbed by the evidence.

They said they hoped lessons might be learned for the benefit of future patients at the hospital.

Rob Lane, medical director for The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, apologised to the family and added:

"Significant changes have been made since Mr Hetherington's death."