Madeleine's father goes back to work on part-time basis

Gerry McCann returned to work yesterday, almost six months after his daughter Madeleine disappeared from their Portuguese holiday apartment. The hospital where he works as a heart specialist in Leicester has said that he will be working directly with patients within weeks.

Speaking to reporters gathered outside Leicester's Glenfield Hospital, the father of the missing four-year-old said he was ready "to concentrate on returning to work properly". His duties as a consultant cardiologist will be phased in gradually, beginning with three half-days a week concentrating on assessing patients' MRI scan results and research for the British Heart Foundation.

Gerry and Kate McCann have been leading a mass-media campaign since their daughter was apparently abducted in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May. Dr McCann said yesterday that with a campaign and private investigation established there was little else they could do. "We have always said that at six months we didn't want to look back and say 'I wish we had done that'. But now we have done everything we can do to establish the search for Madeleine on an ongoing basis."

The doctor's return to work has coincided with an announcement from the private detective agency they have hired that their daughter would be found within five months.

Francisco Marco, the head of the Barcelona-based Metodo 3 agency, said: "We have a six-month contract with the McCanns. We have already spent a month and a half working. I will find her before that period is up".

He said he was convinced of the McCanns' innocence, and believed their daughter might be alive and in Morocco. "A blonde girl like Madeleine is a sign of social status in Morocco," he said.

Dr McCann's manager, Doug Skehan, clinical director of the Glenfield's cardio-respiratory directorate, said he was confident the distraught father was capable of coping with work.

Dr Skehan said they were "glad to have a good doctor back". "His professionalism is high and I am sure he will be able to focus his attention on the job in hand."

He said Dr McCann would return to direct contact with patients in the new year "as long as we and he are happy with his progress".

Dr Skehan dismissed questions relating to the father-of-three's ongoing status as an arguido (suspect). "It is not the same status as if he was charged with an offence. This is a colleague who has lost his child and still does not know where that child is. Adding to that woe by making harsh judgements... would be wrong".