London: Dozens of cancer patients, including five who have since died, “came to harm” after alleged mistreatment by a hospital doctor.

Now 1,200 more people treated by the consultant have been sent letters asking if they have concerns about their care.

Paul Miller, 57, was suspended by his NHS trust in December and has now been dismissed.

He remains on suspension from a private hospital and the General Medical Council has temporarily banned him from treating urology cancer patients, pending further investigations.

A panel of experts found that 27 patients, many of them elderly, “came to harm because of the treatment they received under [Miller’s] care” between 2006 and 2013, including five who have since died, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said.

The trust runs the East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, where Miller worked. A “small number of patients” there received treatment below the hospital’s standards but were not harmed, it added.

The NHS trust has written to 1,200 further prostate and bladder cancer patients treated by Miller following a clinical review by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Miller refused to comment on the allegations “due to patient confidentiality”.

But he added: “I am extremely disappointed that the trust has decided to dismiss me. I strongly do not believe this is justified.

“I welcome the opportunity to cooperate with any investigation into my practice. My priority as a consultant for the last 21 years has always been to protect patients’ best interests and safety.”

The General Medical Council has banned Miller from seeing cancer patients. He must notify the GMC of any medical work he undertakes and inform any new employer of the allegations against him. Des Holden, Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust’s medical director, said: “On behalf of the trust, I apologise unreservedly for the errors in these patients’ treatment... The outcome of the clinical review and the content of the letters will be deeply distressing to our patients and their families and I am very sorry.”

Holden told BBC Radio Surrey that concerns were first raised by a doctor and a group of nurses last November.

He said: “There have been five deaths in the 27 patients... This is a cancer that predominantly affects very elderly people.

“It’s a factor, but it wouldn’t be correct to say they died as a consequence of the mismanagement.”

Michael Wilson, the trust’s chief executive, said that Miller had not “followed the advice of multi-disciplinary teams in carrying out established and recognised cancer treatments”.

Miller also worked at the private Spire Gatwick Park Hospital in Horley, Surrey. Its director, John Crisp, said: “Spire suspended Mr Miller in December 2013 as soon as the trust notified us of their investigation into Mr Miller. We are reviewing the notes of Mr Miller’s patients.”

Miller, who qualified in 1983, has won “numerous awards” and taught at the Royal College of Surgeons and the Institute of Urology.

He worked in Adelaide, Australia, and in Los Angeles before becoming clinical director of surgery at East Surrey Hospital from 1995 to 1997, then specialising in urology.

He is also a director of five private health companies.

Spire Gatwick Park, the NHS trust and the Royal College of Surgeons are carrying out a clinical review of his practice.