WOMEN treated by disgraced York psychiatrist William Kerr are calling for a legal loophole, which could see him return to practice, to be immediately closed.

Kathy Haq, who was treated by Kerr in the late 1960s and early 1970s, slammed the General Medical Council's decision to grant the doctor Voluntary Erasure (VE).

This means Kerr, who is from the Easingwold area, has voluntarily removed his name from the GMC register and, because he has not been convicted of a criminal offence, has not been struck off.

He can apply to be restored to the register, though the application would go before the GMC's Professional Conduct Committee, which would consider the allegations of serious professional misconduct he has faced.

The GMC has stressed if he ever was returned to the register it would be in the same position he left it, with no part of the investigation bypassed.

Kerr was placed on the sex offenders' register in December 2000 after a jury decided at a "hearing of fact" at Leeds Crown Court that he had indecently assaulted a former patient.

The former Clifton Hospital consultant had been deemed unfit to face a trial, but a judge ruled there should be the "hearing of fact" in his case.

Ms Haq said: "He was put on the sex offenders' register and should be struck off automatically, especially because a patient was involved.

"The loophole was because he did not get a criminal conviction, but this cannot be allowed to happen again, the loophole must be closed.

"If Harold Shipman had gone gaga and gone straight to Rampton without trial would he not have been struck off?"

Earlier this year, 16 of Kerr's former patients won compensation totalling almost £300,000 from the former North Yorkshire Health Authority, along with an apology for distress suffered.

A GMC spokeswoman said there could be no further investigation into Kerr as he was no longer on the register.

Updated: 09:19 Wednesday, May 28, 2003