There has been mixed reaction in Carmarthenshire after two surgeons accused of removing the wrong kidney from a patient were cleared of manslaughter.

Consultant urologist John Roberts, 60, and Dr Mahesh Goel, 40, walked free after the case against them collapsed at Cardiff Crown Court.

Graham Reeves: Victim of a "fateful chain of events."

Graham Reeves, 70, from Burry Port, died in March 2000 five weeks after his healthy kidney was removed in error in the operating theatre at Llanelli's Prince Phillip hospital.

Two independent inquiries have been carried out into the operation but their findings were not due be published until after the conclusion of the trial.

Mr Roberts has been suspended on full pay since the incident.

In a statement after the end of the trial Carmarthenshire NHS Trust said the surgeon remained suspended.

Dr Goel has left the trust's employment since the operation two and a half years ago.

Welsh AM Helen Mary Jones - whose Llanelli constituency includes the hospital - said: "I am just relieved the whole process has come to an end.

John Roberts denied the manslaughter charge

"I hope Mr Reeves' family doesn't feel this means they haven't had justice.

"But the hospital and its staff can now put the whole tragedy behind them and move on.

"Lessons were learned from procedures months and months ago.

"The criminal case kept the issue in the public eye longer than necessary.

"It is a great relief for the surgeons and their families and the hospital can now get on with the job of serving the community."

But Councillor Patricia Jones from Burry Port where Mr Reeves lived said she was "absolutely stunned" by the verdict.

She said: "Local people had taken it for granted that the case would see its course."

She said she felt the family would be "most hurt" by the news and questioned whether the decision would affect how people felt about the hospital.

Mahesh Goel also denied manslaughter

"I think it will leave a bitter taste in the community's mouth at the moment", she added.

The General Medical Council (GMC) issued a brief statement.

Spokeswoman Jo Jupper said: "We will look at the issues raised and decide what action, if any, needs to be taken."

This high profile case is one of a number involving the Llanelli hospital.

In February, a trainee consultant anaesthetist was found guilty of serious professional misconduct after giving a lethal dose of painkillers to a patient.

Dr Kala Basnyat administered 10 times the normal amount of morphine to 59-year-old Ronald Sharpe, who subsequently died, as he recovered from a routine operation at the hospital in June 1998.

Suspension

A General Medical Council hearing in London, criticised the hospital for "a total and lamentable failure and lack of safe systems and training which should have prevented such a catastrophe from occurring".

And in a separate case a "whistleblower" consultant who has been on extended leave from Prince Phillip hospital for more than two years is to return to work.

Orthopaedic surgeon Si�n Caiach, 44, was suspended from her duties in April 2000 after claiming private patients were being treated at the hospital while NHS patients were turned away because of a beds crisis.

The consultant also said surgeons and anaesthetists were carrying out private operations on NHS time and getting paid twice.