A HOSPITAL that suspended then libelled one of its most senior consultants welcomed her back to work yesterday having spent up to £1 million of public money on the case.

St George’s Hospital in South London said in a statement that it was “delighted” Geeta Nargund was coming back as a consultant in reproductive medicine and praised her “skills, expertise and commitment”.

However, it refused to explain why its medical director had previously implied that Dr Nargund ran a chaotic unit and had, in part, been responsible for a serious mix-up of IVF embryos. It also refused to confirm how much it had spent on the case but denied it had reached £1 million.

Dr Nargund, 44, was forced to stand down from her £80,000-a-year post as director of the Diana, Princess of Wales, Fertility Centre at St George’s Hospital in October 2002. Six months earlier she had been praised by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority when she discovered a junior doctor carrying out IVF treatment had implanted the wrong embryos into two women patients.

The hospital has never given a reason for her suspension. However, Professor Paul Jones, the hospital’s medical director, implied at the time that it was because her unit was badly run and that the embryo mix-up has been due to her poor management. He added that the clinic was “chaotic” and “mistakes were waiting to happen”.

In the first case of its kind, Dr Nargund successfully brought libel proceedings against the hospital and accepted about £100,000 in damages plus costs. Dr Nargund said at the time that she had only taken legal action because the trust had refused to apologise.

St George’s had to agree that there was never any lack of “professional skill, competence, skill, ability or expertise” on Dr Nargund’s part.

Other legal bills, and the payment of Dr Nargund’s salary to stay at home, are believed to have pushed the cost to the NHS of the suspension near to £1 million.

A report by the National Audit Office has identified 1,000 suspended frontline NHS staff in a 14-month period to July 2002. The office estimates that each year this costs the NHS an extra £29 million in employing cover staff and in legal and management costs and another £11 million for the salaries of suspended staff.

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