The family of a teenage girl who died after receiving a massive overdose of radiation while being treated for a brain tumour said last night that it was a “travesty” that the doctor held responsible was allowed to keep his job.

A conduct and competence hearing held by the Health Professions Council yesterday ruled that Stuart McNee, who was in charge of planning treatment for Lisa Norris, 16, from Girvan, Ayrshire, “had learnt from his mistakes”.

Lisa died in October 2006. She had been exposed to 19 overdoses during radiotherapy treatment for a brain tumour at the Beatson Oncology Unit in Glasgow nine months earlier.

She was given radiation doses that were cumulatively 58 per cent higher than necessary, leaving her with burns on her neck and head. A report by a leading cancer specialist claimed that her chances of long-term survival had been harmed by the error.

Her parents, who attended the hearing at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh yesterday, branded the process a whitewash and pledged to continue with legal action against NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Mr Norris, 53, said: “I’m very disappointed that a man can do what he did and walk away from it. I was expecting him to at least get reprimanded for it. It doesn’t matter that he had a good, impeccable record. What he did he shouldn’t have done.”

The panel’s chairman, Colin Allies, said that while all allegations of a lack of competence had been proven, it was their opinion that Dr McNee was still fit to practise.

He said: “We are confident the registrant has learned from his mistakes and would act differently in similar circumstances today. We took into consideration the lack of staff and a lack of support from senior management.”

The panel agreed that Dr McNee had been responsible for planning the course of radiotherapy and said his biggest failing was not speaking out about staffing pressures and checking that procedures were being followed.

A report by Arthur Johnston, scientific adviser to the Scottish government’s health department, said that the overdose happened after an under-qualified staff member entered a wrong number on a form.

Dr McNee also failed to have his proposed treatment plan verified or independently justified by a competent radiologist or radiographer or other trained staff.

Dr McNee is working in a new role at the Western General and Gartnavel hospitals in Glasgow, where he is involved in clinical trials, teaching and research and development. He did not attend yesterday’s hearing.

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