An ENT surgeon has been banned for 12 months after two of his patients died from complications after rushed procedures which included penetrating one’s skull during sinus surgery.

Dr William Mooney failed to put his patients’ care first and to practise medicine safely when he rushed two surgeries, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found.

A 24-year-old man, dubbed Patient A, died two days after the prominent Sydney surgeon performed a procedure to correct his snoring in February 2018.

While Dr Mooney noticed bleeding during the “inappropriately short” surgery, he did not review the patient while he was in hospital, believing he had it under control, the tribunal said.