A PATIENT of Dr Michael Watt last night welcomed the news that an independent inquiry had been set up into how the Belfast trust handled complaints about the neurology consultant.
Melissa McCullough, who claims she was misdiagnosed by Dr Watt, said she hoped the inquiry "will go some way in helping to understand what went wrong".
The inquiry will review the recall by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust of more than 2,500 of Dr Watt's patients and will be chaired by barrister Brett Lockhart QC.
It will examine the process initiated by the trust in December 2016 when concerns about potential misdiagnoses of Dr Watt's patients were formally raised.
The panel will also "assess whether any complaints or concerns relating to Dr Watt prior to December 2016 should have provided grounds for earlier intervention".
Restrictions have been imposed on Dr Watt by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service after a referral by the General Medical Council.
Ms McCullough, who made an official complaint after Dr Watt misdiagnosed her condition, is among those who have welcomed the Department of Health's decision to establish an inquiry.
She was incorrectly diagnosed by the consultant with multiple sclerosis (MS) instead of neurological Lyme disease and made a formal complaint with the Belfast Health Trust in 2011.
Ms McCullough, a non-executive director for the Health and Social Care Board NI, said she believed the inquiry was "vitally important".
"I am just concerned that we get to the bottom of what the issue is, whether it is systemic or not systemic," she told the BBC.
"Whether the Belfast Trust could have done everything right, we don't know.
"I think that is why the inquiry is so vitally important, because I think that will go some way in helping to understand what went wrong, but hopefully be building some trust in the system."
It comes after a rally was held at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast by patients wanting to show their support for the consultant neurologist.
Supporters have also set up a petition calling for Dr Watt to be re-instated and for the Belfast health trust to "give us the answers we need".
They say they are being "stone-walled" and forced to see other consultants - which is impacting negatively on their health.
While some patients have spoken publicly about concerns around his care, others have praised him for transforming their lives, describing him as "kind", "professional" and "genuinely caring".
