Former head neurosurgeon harmed dozens of patients

It has been found that Sam Eljamel, the former head neurosurgeon at NHS Tayside and an advisor to the Scottish government, has caused considerable harm to a number of his patients. This was discovered through a BBC investigation.

This went on for years, as the correct systems were not in place to recognise his mistakes.

The investigation found that despite Mr Eljamel’s harmful actions being previously picked up on, he was allowed to continue operating.

One of his patients only found out that Mr Eljamel had removed her tear gland instead of her brain tumour once she asked to see her medical records. She was not informed by the hospital that her surgeon had been under investigation since 2013.

Another patient of Mr Eljamel did not find out until years after his spinal surgery that the intended surgery had not actually been carried out. He now experiences ongoing pain but cannot have the correct procedure done because of the scar tissue created as a result of his initial operation.

Concerns surrounding Mr Eljamel first surfaced in 2013 after NHS Tayside discovered that he had operated on the wrong part of several patients’ spines. When questioned, bosses at NHS Tayside said they immediately took action against Mr Eljamel by suspending him. However, records show that Mr Eljamel operated on a patient just three days later.

The investigation into Mr Eljamel’s actions found that:

• he failed to supervise his trainees
• he often rushed surgery and got his subordinates to operate for him
• he was often hard to get into contact with
• some of his colleagues thought he was a bully.

NHS Tayside has been criticised for not picking up on Mr Eljamel repeatedly harming patients. They have said that although concerns were mentioned, they were unable to recognise an emerging theme. It has been reported that some of his colleagues were too afraid to report him as he was intimidating in the workplace.

Mr Eljamel no longer works at NHS Tayside and has removed himself from the UK medical register.

Julie Crossley a Medical Negligence Specialist at Ashtons Legal comments: “This is a dreadful case of a surgeon who was well respected and at the top of his field but continually acted in appropriately and negligently regarding his treatment of numerous patients, leading to ongoing problems, distress and suffering for the patients themselves. Despite this he was allowed to continue despite all of the warning signs.”