A doctor who lied about his career to get a job as a breast surgeon in Bradford has been banned from medical practice for a year.

The General Medical Council found Robert Phipps, 49, guilty of serious professional misconduct by deliberately giving false information about his medical experience to get the job at Bradford Royal Infirmary in 1998.

He was sacked in September 2000 when Bradford NHS Teaching Hospitals Trust discovered discrepancies between his application form and his career history.

Health chiefs then had to write to all 3,400 patients who had come under his care and set up a telephone helpline with specialists on hand to provide reassurances over treatment.

It prompted more than 500 calls and 28 patients were asked to return for re-examination after independent assessors said they could not be entirely satisfied with their case notes.

In suspending Mr Phipps, the GMC's Professional Conduct Committee, sitting in Manchester yesterday, told him that his actions were "inappropriate, unprofessional and intended to mislead".

The panel said: "Employers and potential employers have a right to expect that doctors will provide complete, accurate and truthful information in applications to help them to assess whether the applicant has the necessary knowledge, skills and experience for the post.

"Employers must be able to rely on the integrity of the information provided in order to allow them to make valid decisions."

It was found that Mr Phipps first misrepresented his career history in 1992 when applying for accreditation for higher surgical training.

On his record card he falsely claimed he had been a research fellow and senior registrar at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, and a senior registrar at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth.

When he successfully applied for the surgeon's job in Bradford he also falsely claimed he had held the post of senior registrar at St Helier Hospital, London, and the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

The panel warned Mr Phipps that if doctors were appointed to positions for which they were unsuitably qualified patients could be at risk.

"While there is no evidence that patients were put at risk as a result of your actions, the committee remains concerned that this could have been the case as you had not undertaken a properly organised and supervised training programme.

"Both the public and the profession have a right to expect that doctors will be honest and trustworthy, and that they can rely on information given about their professional experience."

After the hearing a spokesman for Bradford NHS Teaching Hospitals Trust said: "We welcome the decision.

"It vindicates the conclusion of the investigation we undertook which highlighted the inaccuracies on Mr Phipp's CV and our subsequent decision to dismiss him."

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Phipps, of Beech Tree Court, Baildon, said he intended to contest the GMC's decision.

"They have got this sadly, badly wrong and I will appeal," he said.

The Professional Conduct Committee advised Mr Phipps to keep his skills and knowledge up to date if he wished to resume work as a medical practitioner.

It will hold another hearing within 12 months to decide whether it needs to take any further action in relation to his registration.