A SPECIALIST who branded himself a 'dirty doc' in a bid to undermine false claims of sexual misconduct has been struck off.

Inverness-born Dr Kendon MacDonald, 39, wrote a string of anonymous letters after he was suspended from a sexual health clinic at Salisbury District ­Hospital, Wilts, after a complaint from an unnamed patient in 2010.

He was later accused of performing unnecessary intimate examinations involving inappropriate touching of a number of women for his sexual pleasure.

MacDonald, who qualified in medicine from Aberdeen University in 1998, was cleared of the claims, but was forced to admit he had called himself a pervert and a sex pest after he was said by handwriting experts to be the author of the smears.

He told the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in Manchester he felt angry at how he had been treated and wanted to make it look like there was a vendetta against him.

A fitness to practise panel, chaired by Pamela Mansell, heard about the "dysfunctional" hospital environment where MacDonald was talked about by nursing staff.

However, the sexual health specialist was told his "blatant and reckless" disregard for professional standards was incompatible with medical registration.

Handing down the determination, Mrs Mansell said: "You created and perpetuated a false scenario in an attempt to get back at the trust.

"The panel took into account your personal situation and the pressures you faced arising from the investigation.

"However, it concluded they are not sufficient to mitigate the seriousness of your behaviour and dishonesty. The nature of these letters and their wide distribution showed a disregard for the profession and your actions fell well below the standards expected of a registered medical practitioner."

The tribunal heard MacDonald sent letters to ­Salisbury NHS Trust employees, GPs' practices and even the General Medical Council over a 12-month period between 2010 and 2011. He also used them as evidence of a plot against him at an MPTS hearing.

One letter began with the heading: "There's a sex pest doctor on the prowl at Salisbury hospital." Another read: 'There has been a dirty doc called Dr MacDonald working here at Salisbury."

MacDonald was sacked by the Trust in October 2012 after admitting to sending the letters. He has always denied any of his conduct towards his patients was improper and the MPTS panel cleared him of sexual misconduct, but found he had shown a "lack of sensitivity" in treating some women.

MacDonald told the panel he had hoped the material would discredit those making allegations against him.

Giving evidence, he said: "It was me trying to give the impression the trust had a vendetta against me. There was an attempt by me to discredit those who were speaking out against me. I felt the Trust had behaved unfairly and I wanted to retaliate, to get back at the trust."

Bosses became suspicious about the number of letters they were receiving and sent them to a handwriting expert to compare against MacDonald's scrawl.

He was forced to confess after his own defence lawyers commissioned a handwriting expert who reported the same findings.

MacDonald was born in Inverness in 1974, went to school in Aberdeen and qualified in medicine from Aberdeen University in 1998.

Specialising in genitourinary medicine, he worked at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and Royal Free Hospital, in London, and Bristol Hospital before spending five months as a consultant in Salisbury.