TWO patients died after a Bolton hospital doctor made a catalogue of blunders during surgery, a medical tribunal was told.

Julian Mason, aged 38, accidentally cut a nerve in a man's throat and caused substantial blood loss that led to a fatal heart attack, it was claimed.

Mason tried to use a laser the tribunal heard to stop massive bleeding during another operation on an elderly woman's throat, but it made her condition worse.

The two patients who died were among 13 who suffered poor treatment at the hands of Dr Mason while he was laser protection supervisor in the ENT Department of the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The General Medical Council's professional conduct committee in London was also told the surgeon -- who denies serious professional misconduct -- had been caught drinking while on call on three separate conditions. And, in November 1998, he allegedly failed to respond to his on-call bleeper because he was watching a Manchester United match at Old Trafford.

Greg Milner-White, for the GMC, told the committee: "Serious faults seem to have been made by Mr Mason in his treatment of 13 patients.

"These include his failure to properly investigate conditions before operating, a failure to monitor operations in progress, and a failure to follow up patients' treatment after operations.

"In addition, he has admitted incidents of drinking while on call and failing to respond to his beeper."

The tribunal heard that Dr Mason was employed as a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Royal Bolton Hospital during 1998 and 1999.

In March 1999, he saw a 70-year-old man, identified only as DH, who had enlarged glands. Although the man was later discovered to have cancerous lymph nodes, Dr Mason did not carry out the correct procedures to diagnose his condition.

The following month, he operated on DH and dissected the neck lump. A month later, Dr Mason operation again and removed the man's left tonsil.

Mr Milner-White said this clearly showed that the surgeon had missed the problem during the first operation.

Dr Mason then severed two nerves during the second operation, causing severe bleeding to the patient.

The following day, DH, suffered a heart attack and died.

Mr Milner-White told the hearing: "The treatment of this patient was mismanaged by Dr Mason. A patient with potential head and neck cancer should be handled jointly with a head and neck surgeon.

"It is essential to make a complete diagnosis before any surgery is carried out.

"As a result of Dr Mason's faults in the treatment of this patient, he suffered an avoidable post-operative death."

The second patient who died was a 43-year-old woman, referred to as WW, with a long history of throat problems.

She was referred to the Royal Bolton Hospital in Minerva Road because she had been spitting blood and had tasted blood at the back of her throat.

On November 30, 1999, Dr Mason carried out surgery using a laser to seal blood vessels on the woman's tongue.

Mr Milner-White went on: "In the operation, significant bleeding occurred, particularly as Dr Mason lasered the !eft side of the patient's throat. The bleeding increased despite further laser treatment.

"At his point he inserted a gag and the bleeding stopped after a couple of minutes.

"We now know that the damage was in fact done by the laser itself and the blood loss was estimated at approximately 1500 millilitres."

The committee heard that, following the operation, WW's throat began to swell and she experienced difficulty breathing.

Mr Milner-White added: "At 1.30pm the next day she started to bleed excessively from the mouth.

"Attempts were made to clear blood from the oral cavity but, despite the efforts of resuscitation teams, she was declared dead.

"Mr Mason's treatment of this patient was significantly wrong in a number of respects. He failed to record the levels of energy used by the laser. During the operation a haemorrhage occurred and he applied the laser to the area of bleeding in an attempt to coagulate the vessel, but that resulted in deep penetration from the laser to the tissue, and severe damage to the carotid artery.

"This demonstrates a failure to understand the normal action of the laser. In the presence of significant bleeding, it works only to heat and bubble the blood, and not coagulate it."

The committee heard that Dr Mason made errors in his treatment of 11 other patients at the hospital.

In February, 1999, he allegedly operated on a four-year-old girl without first confirming that she needed surgery.

The patient, who had suffered swelling in her neck, was left with a damaged facial nerve.

"This was a major operation to undertake, particularly on a patient of that age, without full confirmation of the need for that operation," Mr Milner-White said.

In June, 1999, Dr Mason was said to have left a 29-year-old patient with paralysed facial muscle after damaging nerves during surgery to remove a cancerous lump.

Two months earlier he had carried out an unnecessary operation on a 60-year-old patient with a history of lymphoma.

The doctor operated because he believed there was evidence of a tumour, when a simple biopsy would have been sufficient.

A patient, identified only as NB, suffered a similar blunder a week later, the committee heard.

A 41-year-old woman also saw Dr Mason for a lump in her neck in August 1999.

He operated without locating her facial nerve first and damaged the vital tissue, it is claimed.

A month later a 77-year-old patient went under the knife after complaining of swelling in a gland.

But Dr Mason had failed to ensure the patient underwent radiotherapy afterwards to reduce the risk of a recurrence, it was alleged.

In October, 1999, he failed to spot a tumour on a 67-year-old patient's vocal cord.

After an examination of the man, Dr Mason said his neck and mouth were normal and sent him home.

When the patient returned a month later, a different doctor examined his throat with a fibre optic camera and found the cancerous lump.

Mr Milner-White added: "If a proper examination had been carried out by Dr Mason of that patient, when first seen, that tumour should have been found as it was by a senior house officer the next month."

Dr Mason operated on a 52-year-old patient the same month when a biopsy would have been sufficient, it is claimed.

During that procedure, he also damaged her facial nerve. Three days later a 59-year-old man suffered the same blunder at Dr Mason's hands, the tribunal was told.

A month later, he operated on a 27-year-old woman for a neck lump. But he wrongly removed nodes further down the neck, the committee heard.

"It appears from a drawing made by another surgeon that the swelling was very differently situated than the nodes removed by Dr Mason," said Mr Milner-White.

"His removals were further down the neck."

The patient later visited another consultant who corrected the error.

In November, 1998, a 69-year-old was referred to Dr Mason with a lump to her left ear.

Dr Mason allegedly performed surgery without identifying the path of her facial nerve, damaging it during the procedure.

The doctor is accused of irresponsible, inappropriate and unsatisfactory treatment of the 13 patients.

It is also claimed he acted unprofessionally and put patients at risk by drinking on duty and failing to respond to his bleeper.

He is now working in psychiatry at the Fairmile Hospital in Oxfordshire and has no intention of resuming work as a surgeon. Dr Mason, of Newbury, denies serious professional misconduct.

Proceeding