5:30pm Friday 19th March 2010
A DECISION whether to allow a suspended surgeon to continue practising will not now be made until the autumn, but health watchdogs are refusing to reveal why.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is investigating consultant Chukwuedo Iwegbu, of Starling Close, Buckhurst Hill, but circumstances which prompted the action have not been disclosed.
Mr Iwegbu, who qualified in Russia, was due to face accusations of deficient professional performance at a hearing, originally scheduled for March.
But the hearing was postponed without explanantion and is not likely now to be heard before the autumn.
The former Holly House clinician has told employers at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust that he will retire in the summer.
Ilford North MP Lee Scott, who has been investigating the case, said: "If he is due to retire in the summer it makes a mockery of the whole situation. What is the GMC going to do afterwards? There's nothing they can do to him.
"It's a bit like a footballer being banned from playing football when he already has an injury that stops him from playing - it doesn't make any sense."
Mr Iwegbu was first investigated by the health watchdog in June 2008 and he has since been made subject to a number of working restrictions.
The allegations against Mr Iwegbu have not been made clear, but the GMC have said: "The fitness to practise panel will inquire into allegations that, having undergone a GMC assessment, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Chukwuedo Iwegbu's professional performance was found to be unacceptable or a cause for concern in several areas of Good Medical Practice."
Mr Scott added: "Why is it taking so long and what is it all about? I think people have the right to know.
"We don't know the full accusations he is facing. This has gone on for quite sometime - either this man has a case to answer or he doesn't. The sooner the hearing is held the better it is for everyone, including him.
"People have a right to know. If someone is charged with something, we know what it is. It doesn't necessarily mean that person is guilty."
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