Skull surgeon Roger Bainton compensation scheme set up
A compensation scheme has been set up for patients injured by an NHS surgeon.
Roger Bainton, who rebuilt the faces of assault or accident victims at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, was suspended in February 2013.
An investigation by the General Medical Council found he had harmed 18 people by using an experimental and unproven bone substitute.
The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust has set up the fund.
Speaking in 2013, the hospital's medical director Robert Courteney-Harris, said he was "profoundly sorry" to those patients who had been harmed.
"They can have absolute confidence that they will receive the best possible care and treatment from our senior oral and maxillofacial consultants," he said.
Solicitors acting for patients and the hospital trust said they had appointed shared experts and set out a preliminary timetable, "reaching agreement on a scheme to consider and resolve claims cost-effectively and wherever possible avoid the need for patients to go to court."