AS senior surgeon at York District Hospital I feel obliged to formulate a response to the article 'Doctors remove stomach in cancer mistake', published in the Evening Press on December 4.

The article questioned the length of time it has taken for a civil case to be settled by York Health Services NHS Trust.

These delays occur not as a result of deliberate tardiness on the part of the Trust, but are merely a reflection of the in-depth fact finding which must inevitably accompany such cases.

It is unfair to lay the blame at the door of the medical authorities for this facet of civil litigation as many of the problems are fostered by the legal profession themselves.

I do not propose to go into the details of the case which was outlined in the article but I would like to say that the people of York are privileged to have highly motivated, skilled and caring surgeons working at York District Hospital.

It must be accepted that the actions we take are in the best interest of the patients and are carried out to the best of our ability.

While surgeons are human beings treating human beings there will always be a difference of opinion in how each individual case should be treated.

To publicise such cases without the surgeon having redress due to patient confidentiality is not only unfair, it is in no-one's best interests and merely serves to foster mistrust between professions.

Mr S H Leveson MD FRCS,

consultant surgeon,

Shilton Garth Close,

Earswick, York.

Updated: 11:54 Friday, December 07, 2001