Ex-Blackpool Victoria Hospital surgeon allowed back to work after showing remorse for 'op blunder and cover-up'

A former Blackpool Victoria Hospital surgeon, who was suspended after a tribunal was told he tried to cover his tracks after he operated on a breast cancer patient without looking at pre-op scan results, is allowed to go back to work.
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Sadagopan Varadarajan was described as "evasive" during a misconduct hearing which last year stripped him of his ability to work in health care for eight months.

But a fresh panel said Varadarajan had "repeatedly apologised for his behaviour and previous misconduct and demonstrated his understanding of the impact these events have had on the reputation of the profession, his colleagues, and himself" and had shown "genuine" remorse.

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Varadarajan, who qualified in India and has practiced in the UK since 1983, had been working at the Vic as a breast and endocrine consultant surgeon for 12 years prior to his blunder, which happened in October 2014.

Blackpool Victoria HospitalBlackpool Victoria Hospital
Blackpool Victoria Hospital

He failed to look at the results of an MRI scan before operating on a woman, which could have left her needing more surgery.

He then "sought to inappropriately influence" a colleague by "suggesting" they had given him a "verbal report of the MRI scan", the tribunal was told last year."He did this to protect himself from foreseeable criticism of his actions" after learning the incident was being investigated, Nathan Moxon, chairman of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel said.

Varadarajan, who went on to work for the Wrightington, Wigan, and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust, admitted he should have "done things differently" but challenged the panel's findings of dishonesty, adding the proceedings had been stressful and that he wanted to be a "better person and better doctor".

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During the latest hearing, a lawyer for Varadarajan said the medic had written a "full reflective statement", finished "comprehensive" training "in relation to honesty and probity alone", and had kept his "clinical knowledge up-to-date", tribunal documents said.

The lawyer said the incident was a one-off with a "very low risk of repetition", and that Varadarajan had "learned his lesson after a very difficult six-year period".

The tribunal said Varadarajan was "possibly overconfident and inappropriately cut corners" when he carried out the procedure on the woman, but said he "now appreciates that and understands the risks of his failure to carry out all necessary actions".

It said: "He recognises that his actions fell far below the standards expected", with the panel happy Varadarajan had "demonstrated full insight and remediation in this regard, that the risk of repetition is very low, and that he will record his decisions and actions thoroughly".

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Varadarajan insisted the conversation with his colleague was "genuine in intent and that he had been honestly seeking to clarify his recollection of events" but said he now "accepts his actions were inappropriate and could be perceived as dishonest".

Tribunal papers added: "He maintains that this was unintentional but he acknowledged the impact of the 2019 tribunal's findings."

A Vic spokesman said last year: "As soon as concerns were raised about Mr Varadarajan's practice, the trust carried out its own investigation and referred him to the relevant professional bodies.

"The trust co-operated fully with those bodies throughout their investigation."

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