A PAIN consultant has been found guilty of serious professional misconduct after two patients gave evidence against him.

Dr Michael Tai, 65, has been banned from working at the Chaucer Hospital at Canterbury. Strict conditions have been placed on his work which, from now on, he must limit to NHS posts.

For 12 months all his clinical work will undergo a random audit by the General Medical Council. He will not be allowed to keep controlled drugs in his possession.

The verdict marks the end of a three-year campaign for justice by two of his victims: Tony Hickson, from Canterbury, and Sean Ames, from Whitstable. They are now pursuing civil cases against Dr Tai.

In the case of Mr Ames the GMC's professional conduct committee decided that Dr Tai should not have adopted the treatment regime he used for pain relief and was wrong to implant a pump system to deliver drugs.

Mr Ames said: "I was delighted to hear the outcome of the hearing. The last few years have been quite an ordeal, heaped upon the suffering I endured during the time I had the pump.

"My objective has always been to prevent other patients from going through what I had to. It was difficult having to give evidence before the committee but I am pleased that we all persevered and that justice was done ultimately."

In relation to Mr Hickson the committee found that inserting an epidural catheter was inappropriate and that Dr Tai's management of Mr Hickson's treatment was inadequate during his stay in the Chaucer Hospital.

Mr Hickson said when things first went wrong with his treatment he thought it a mistake which could happen to anyone. But when he found out that Dr Tai was under investigation he looked into his case more closely.

"Having done so it became apparent to me that Dr Tai had in fact behaved irresponsibly toward me and towards others," Mr Hickson said.

"That was what led me to contact the GMC and I feel fully vindicated by the decision it reached. I enjoy better health now but will never forget the suffering I endured back in 1998."

Nick Fairweather, of Harman and Harman solicitors, who brought the cases on behalf of Mr Ames and Mr Hickson, said he welcomed the verdict although he said he was surprised the GMC did not impose more far-reaching conditions.

"The concern is that, to the end, Dr Tai lacked any real insight into the deficiencies in his practice," Mr Fairweather said. "He was able to practice in relative clinical isolation outside the effective audit of hospital managers and peers."

Dr Tai has 28 days to appeal against the GMC's ruling.