A breast cancer surgeon has been ordered to appear before a disciplinary hearing despite the General Medical Council recommending that she should return to work.

Briony Ackroyd was suspended two years ago from her work at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry amid accusations of negligence.

The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has decided not to lift the suspension at this stage.

Instead it is to hold a tribunal to consider her clinical competence.

Following an inquiry, the GMC cleared Miss Ackroyd of allegations she was misleading patients about the risks of surgery.

It recommended she return to work immediately, and be monitored for 12 months by a colleague to ensure her performance in 12 areas was up to scratch.

In a letter to the trust, the GMC reiterated this recommendation after board members sent information about its own inquiry into the surgeon's performance.

Pioneering work

The trust said it had taken its latest decision with public interest and patient safe in mind.

In a statement the trust said: "The chief executive having reviewed the considerable body of independent expert evidence concerning this case and having given due consideration to the GMC's statement of requirements, has decided that the trust should continue to proceed to an independent panel hearing."

Former patients have called for Miss Ackroyd to be reinstated.

She was only a handful of surgeons in the UK who carried out radical reconstructive breast surgery at the same time as a mastectomy.

Supporters of the combined approach say it reduces the trauma for breast cancer patients by avoiding a gap between losing a breast and having reconstruction.