Doctor accused of falsifying artificial mesh records

A surgeon found to have left patients in "agony" after using artificial mesh to treat prolapsed bowels faces allegations he falsified medical notes.

Tony Dixon was suspended after the surgery was found to have caused harm to hundreds of patients at two hospitals in Bristol.

Now, a new hearing will examine Dr Dixon's records. He is accused of dishonestly creating patient records long after he was involved in their care, something he "strongly denies".

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) will begin Monday. It will examine claims medical records for seven patients contained false information, and were not created at the correct time.

A spokesperson for Dr Dixon said: "[He] always endeavoured to provide the highest standard of care to his patients.

"He strongly disputes falsifying any medical records and will provide his detailed evidence about those serious allegations to the tribunal, initially by way of a detailed witness statement which he has provided to the General Medical Council."

They include Debbie Cooper Jones, a dentist from Gloucester.

She said: "He seemed to have done quite a lot of research from the papers that were on his website.

"So I was a bit surprised at my lack of follow-up because he was quoting so many statistics.

"Perhaps, in hindsight it seems a little bit odd that there wasn't that close monitoring of us given the nature of the surgeries we were having and maybe even the novelty of them that it was ground-breaking work."

It will take several weeks for the tribunal decide on the new allegations.

That decision is crucial when it comes to eventually deciding whether Dr Dixon will eventually be able to reapply to go back on the medical register again.