THE long-anticipated review into the medical practices of consultants Lennox Kane and David Rosenberg has hit another hurdle more than three months after it was first due to be published.

Hertfordshire Health Authority apologised this week for yet another delay to the independent report that promised to investigate the standard of obstretic and gynaecological services provided by the two surgeons.

The review was set up early last year following a host of complaints from women claiming to have suffered at the hands of Dr Kane and Mr Rosenberg when they practised at Hemel Hempstead Hospital and the private BUPA Hospital in Harpenden.

The authority had hoped to publish the review panel's report by November last year, but three months on it has admitted it is no closer to setting a date for the team's findings to be made public.

Speaking at a health authority meeting last Wednesday, chairman Dr Diana Dunstan said she shared the public's frustration at the delay in releasing the panel's findings.

She said: "We had originally hoped to consider the findings of the external review at yesterday's meeting but it became clear at Christmas that more time was needed for the work to be completed.

"I know that everything reasonably possible is being done by the panel and it would not be proper for the authority to be seen to interfere in the independence of the review.

"However, I do understand the frustration of the women who have been extremely patient over this and hope that the uncertainty can be removed as soon as possible.

Once the findings are known, I hope we will be able to reflect on the process, learn the lessons including if such reviews can be carried out in a different way in the future to ensure an earlier outcome."

However, Dr Dunstan's comments were met with chagrin by members of Wami Women Against Medical Injustice the action group set up to help women affected by the practices of Dr Kane and Mr Rosenberg.

Ms Stella Insley, one of the group's founder members, said: "We're all very disappointed that it's taken so long. I feel very let down but all we can do is wait. I think the scale of the problem was much bigger than they [the health authority] first anticipated. It seems the management of the trust are too far removed from what is going on."

A spokesman for the authority yesterday (Wednesday) reiterated Dr Dunstan's comments and said the review had been delayed by the "complexity of the problem".

She said: "We don't want to break our promise [to these women] and will publish the findings as soon as we have them."

Meanwhile, estimates of how much the investigation has cost West Herts Hospital Trust abound this week after it was revealed that Mr Rosenberg has been suspended on full pay since November 2000. Dr Kane has been on sick leave since January 2001.