AN anaesthetist accused of botching an operation on a nine-year-old girl told a tribunal he had been suffering from stress in the run-up to the incident.

Dr Mariyappan Balasubram-anian is accused of serious professional misconduct after the girl, who was being treated for a badly broken leg, suffered 30 per cent blood loss.

Another anaesthetist, Dr James Fenwick, stepped in to stabilise her condition, during the September 2004 surgery at the former Blackburn Royal Infirmary, the hearing heard.

Later Dr Balasubramanian, 66, failed a three-week assess-ment at Burnley General Hospital and was put on paid leave until he was suspended by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in September 2005.

But the doctor told a General Medical Council fitness to practise hearing he had been suffering from stress, which affected his performance. He said he could only confide in one consultant anaesthetist in his department at Blackburn.

"He was sympathetic towards me but he was not able to come forward," said Dr Balasubramanian.

He said that he was unaware of any professional counsell-ing or support available at the Blackburn or Burnley hospi-tals. Dr Subramanian said he had also consulted the Medical Professional Society, the nati-onal liability body, for advice.

His counsel, David Morris, has made a number of formal factual admissions in relation to certain aspects of the girl's operation and the later assessment. But Dr Balasubra-manian denies serious professional misconduct, and especially disputes accusa-tions that he had a tendency to become confused and had poor communication skills.

In relation to the operation, he concedes that the girl had suffered substantial blood loss but denied that he did not monitor her heart rate and blood pressure sufficiently.

Dr Balasubramanian, 15 months off retirement when the incident arose, was told he needed a substantial period of retraining before he could be allowed to return to work.

The hearing, in Manchester, continues.