Mariyappan Balasubramanian, who worked for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in hospitals in Burnley and Blackburn, failed in his appeal at the High Court, London.

He had been found to have acted in an "unprofessional" and "inappropriate" manner during an operation on the girl with a badly broken leg. She went into shock after suffering blood loss during the procedure in September 2004, and her life was at risk.

The court heard that, had the surgeon in charge of the operation not consulted another anaesthetist, the girl could have died.

Last year, the General Medical Council struck off Dr Balasubramanian after also hearing evidence of an assessment which found his work was not up to scratch, he was liable to become "confused" and lacked concentration.

But lawyers for the 66-year-old told Mr Justice Blake the GMC had not taken into account mitigating features in the case.

Barrister Mr David Morris said Dr Balasubramanian had effectively been suspended since 2005 and should be allowed to return to work immediately, under supervision.

Mr Morris argued that, contrary to GMC findings, Dr Balasubramanian had an insight into what he had done wrong and admitted he had acted in an unprofessional manner.

His career had previously been "unblemished", said Mr Morris, and he had been responsible for "wide-ranging and good practice".

Mr Morris also challenged a finding by the GMC that it was "highly unlikely" there was a suitable training course for Dr Balasubramanian to refresh his skills because of his advancing years.

Such a ruling was "disproportionate" said the barrister, and to have made that finding against Dr Balasubramanian because of his age was "unnecessary".

But Mr Justice Blake said the GMC was entitled to come to the decision it did. "There was a quantity of evidence about what had happened and how Dr Balasubramanian had responded, which, sadly, having regard to his no doubt long and valuable service to the public over many years, had led the panel to conclude that retraining and a conditional registration was not a viable option," said the judge.