A SURGEON'S blunder left two patients at Furness General Hospital in kidney failure, documents obtained by The Mail reveal.

FGH whistle-blower Peter Duffy complained about the two incidents to his bosses.

His colleague, Ashutosh Jain, had performed a ureterorenoscopy on a man and a woman, both of whom only had one kidney, at Furness General Hospital in September 2015.

A stent should always be inserted into the ureter following the procedure to prevent further blockage and to allow the passage of any kidney stones.

However Mr Jain failed to insert a stent. Both patients later developed kidney failure as a result - something which is especially life-threatening in individuals with only one kidney.

Mr Duffy, who earlier this year won an employment tribunal case against the trust for unfair dismissal, said: "It's inconceivable that he didn't insert a stent; in patients with only one kidney you simply have to protect that kidney."

In the trust's review into the incidents reported by Mr Duffy, seen by The Mail, hospital bosses accepted Mr Jain made a mistake.

Mr Jain told bosses the patients had refused to have a stent but the patients denied this when questioned during the trust's investigation.

In its report the trust stated the outcome of the investigation, as communicated to Mr Jain, was that he was told "a stent should always be inserted post ureterorenoscopy in patients with a solitary kidney".

Mr Duffy made a total of 27 complaints about specific incidents relating to three of his former colleagues; Mr Jain, Kavinder Madhra and Muhammad Naseem.

Both Mr Jain and Mr Naseem remain employed at the trust while Mr Madhra's employment ended nine days after the General Medical Council imposed strict conditions on his work as a doctor.

UHMBT said Dr Jain and Dr Naseem were "valued members" of staff.

The trust added: "It is important to note that all the clinical concerns raised by Mr Duffy were appropriately investigated at the time."