AN IPSWICH Hospital radiologist has avoided being struck off after he gave the all-clear to a patient who found she had breast cancer seven months later.

AN IPSWICH Hospital radiologist has avoided being struck off after he gave the all-clear to a patient who found she had breast cancer seven months later.

A General Medical Council panel ruled Dr Lan Keng Lun, did not get enough resources from his employers at the time at The Princess Alexandra NHS Trust, which runs the Epping NHS Breast Screening Service in Essex.

The panel said the trusts had to accept “much of the responsibility” for the misconduct.

The hearing heard that eight other patients were affected by below-standard screenings at the “understaffed” and “under-resourced” service.

The doctor works at Ipswich Hospital under the name Bill Lan.

The panel decided Dr Lan's fitness to practise was impaired but took into account an external review that concluded the trust “must accept much of the responsibility for the serious service failure”.

Dr Lan was the only full time consultant radiologist at Epping during his time at the unit between April 1998 and November 2004, with various locums providing support.

The review stated many of Dr Lan's actions and omissions would not have occurred had he received the support he asked for.

Various conditions on Dr Lan's registration were imposed for two years including orders to undertake training in ultrasound and biopsy techniques, and to undergo an audit of a sample of his assessment cases.