A DOCTOR has been struck off after decisions he made during two operations were deemed “inappropriate” and put patients “at risk of harm”.

Dr Luigi Angelini has been erased from the medical register after two procedures at Southend Hospital which “demonstrated a lack of understanding”.

At a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing it was ruled, as an on-call consultant during an emergency appendicitis procedure on the first patient on October 29, 2019, Dr Angelini “inappropriately” instructed a doctor.

The tribunal, held between February 6 and February 16, also heard Dr Angelini failed to obtain properly informed consent from the 63-year-old patient before surgery, in spite of the “significant increased risks” of operating on both the appendix and the hernia.

The General Medical Council’s expert witness, Alastair Windsor, said Dr Angelini’s offer to repair the hernia while removing the appendix was “unsafe, inappropriate, unhelpful and wrong”.

Two days later, on October 31 2019, Dr Angelini did not stop a similar procedure on a 16-year-old boy when running into difficulties, the tribunal was told.

Dr Angelini, alongside another doctor, started the emergency operation, however, a consultant in general surgery was asked by the scrub nurse to take over part way through.

In a statement, the consultant said: “I observed the operating team had not achieved what they wanted to, which was to get the port safely inside the patient’s abdomen.

“I scrubbed and asked Dr Angelini if I could take over the operation to ensure the operation was safe and we could discuss the operation after.”

Mr Windsor’s expert report stated Dr Angelini “clearly” failed to ask for help when he was “struggling” to complete the operation safely.

In relation to both patients, Dr Angelini failed to ask for help when it “became clear there were difficulties” which put the patients at “increased risk”.

The tribunal identified that there was no evidence of mitigating factors in this case.

It ruled the allegations had been proved, including a separate case where he was not honest when applying for a new hospitals trust in Worcestershire.

The tribunal was of the view Dr Angelini’s erasure would send a message that his conduct was “wholly unacceptable” and “fell far short” of the conduct and standards of behaviour expected of a registered doctor.

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