A woman died of cancer after unnecessary and negligent surgery she received at the hands of a disgraced doctor in New South Wales, health officials have confirmed.

She was one of dozens of women harmed by Emil Shawky Gayed, who over the course of at least one decade mutilated and performed harmful surgery on patients.

Health authorities fear there may be many more women still to come forward.

The scandal also raises questions about how those who worked with Gayed did not notice his errors or question unnecessary surgeries and report him earlier.

The president of the Medical Error Action Group, Lorraine Long, told Guardian Australia that she had written to the then NSW health minister John Hatzistergos about Gayed in 2006 because her organisation had received so many serious complaints about him.

But DiRienzo said the hospital had reviewed its database and annual performance reviews for Gayed, and no issues had been recorded or raised until 2015.

READ MORE of Melissa Davey’s story in The Guardian:

Woman died of cancer after unnecessary of former doctor Emil Gayed