Disgraced surgeon Eljamel performed several wrong site surgeries, inquiry told

Disgraced brain surgeon Sam Eljamel carried out a number of operations on the wrong parts of patients’ bodies while at NHS Tayside, an inquiry has heard.Experts also said the neurosurgeon may not have been “open” with colleagues and patients about the outcome of these “wrong site surgeries”.Mr Eljamel was a consultant neurosurgeon at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee from 1995 until his suspension in December 2013.A public inquiry is taking place after patients of Mr Eljamel raised concerns that he had harmed as many as 200 people.Read MoreThe inquiry heard evidence on Friday that the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) raised concerns about Mr Eljamel following a review.An interim advice letter to NHS Tayside’s medical director said in October 2013: “Based on all of the information provided to the team, there are concerns about Professor Eljamel’s clinical practice with regards to spinal surgery.“A number of wrong site surgeries have been carried out, which raise concerns about Professor Eljamel’s approach to pre-operative marking and post-operative care.“In addition, for a number of cases where wrong level surgery had been performed, Professor Eljamel acknowledged that he may not have been absolutely open with his colleagues about the outcomes of these operations.“Additionally, the review team could not be sure if he had been open with patients who had undergone wrong site procedures.”Giving evidence to the inquiry on Friday, Professor Frank Smith, chairman of the RCS invited review mechanism, said wrong site surgeries “should never happen”.He said: “A wrong site – or wrong side – operation is termed a ‘never’ event by NHS classifications.“They’re inappropriately named because they do happen, but all facilities that are available to avoid that happening are really important.”He said the review recommended that NHS Tayside consider whether it felt further action should be taken to review Mr Eljamel’s spinal surgery cases to ensure “no wrong site surgeries have gone unaddressed”.The Eljamel Inquiry is taking place in Edinburgh (Eljamel Inquiry/PA)PA MediaHe said the review team was informed at the time that Mr Eljamel was already under clinical supervision to protect patient safety.The professional membership organisation, which sets standards for surgical training, examinations, and patient care, was asked by the former medical director at NHS Tayside to review Mr Eljamel’s spinal surgery practice in 2013 following a number of complaints and concerns.The review team interviewed Mr Eljamel and a number of his staff and colleagues at NHS Tayside in September and October, and RCS subsequently issued an interim immediate advice letter to the health board.The letter was presented to the Eljamel Inquiry on Friday, alongside the medical body’s full review, which was issued a few weeks later.According to the evidence, Mr Eljamel allegedly told the review team that concerns had prompted him to make a “number of changes to his practice”.However, the team heard from staff and colleagues that Mr Eljamel’s behaviour had been forced to change previously, but described he had slipped back to an old pattern of behaviour over time.It led the review team to “doubt whether or not Professor Eljamel was capable of sustaining the recent improvements he had made in the long term”.The formal review issued by RCS in 2013 said: “The review team heard the opinion that Professor Eljamel’s practice over the last 10-20 years was ‘finally catching up with him’ with regard to the concerns that had been (raised).”At the end of his testimony, Prof Smith said: “I’m very much aware that there will be a number of patients and relatives who have been profoundly affected by this and my sympathy goes out to them.”The inquiry later heard evidence from NHS Lothian executive medical director Tracy Gillies, which revealed that Mr Eljamel had performed further “wrong-side surgery” after the interim RCS report, when he was allegedly under clinical supervision.Ms Gillies was commissioned to write a report about the position of Mr Eljamel within NHS Tayside in 2019, which was shown to the inquiry in part during her evidence session on Friday.“The (RCS) review team gave some specific instructions about what they understood supervision would mean, but given that a further wrong side surgery occurred in a patient between the interim and final report from the RCS, this illustrates the difficulty with ambiguity about the conditions of restrictions,” her report said.“There was no verbal communication of the interim letter with its explicit recommendations to the clinical lead in the unit or the general manager.”Ms Gillies’ investigation also stated that Mr Eljamel was the chair of the NHS Tayside clinical governance committee, and that this “influenced (health) board reporting”.The inquiry also heard that Mr Eljamel attended the Significant Adverse Review into the wrong site surgery of a patient in this role.The report said it was “clear from comments made that this influenced the direction of the discussion, and may have weakened the findings of the (review).”The inquiry, taking place before Lord Weir in Edinburgh, continues.