Hospitals urged to probe extent of Eljamel influence in England

Hospitals in England have been told to thoroughly check their records after The Sunday Post last week revealed the neurosurgeon accused of harming hundreds of Scots also worked in Liverpool.

The Department of Health and Social Care has issued the instruction to all NHS Trusts where Libyan-born Sam Eljamel worked before he took up a post at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee in 1995. That will include the world-renowned Walton Centre for Neurosurgery in Liverpool, where he worked for four years.

Last week we revealed the Walton’s health officials refused to even confirm the rogue ­surgeon had worked there, citing “data protection laws” ahead of their duty of candour to patients.

And we can also reveal that despite glaring irregularities in Eljamel’s CV and his concerning behaviour in Dundee, English health regulator the Healthcare Commission appointed Eljamel as a medical adviser from 2007 until 2009.

The formal appointment gave Eljamel influence on the regulation of other clinicians and saw him advising the NHS across England on clinical standards.

One of Eljamel’s victims, former Radio Tay presenter Pat Kelly, 65, who says he has been left “as helpless as a toddler”, said: “The very idea that a rogue surgeon under suspicion of harming so many patients could help shape clinical governance nationally is a scandal in itself.

“My operation took place in 2007 when, at the very least, ­others at NHS Tayside must have known things were far from satisfactory and patients were being harmed.

“He should have been under scrutiny from the irregularities in his CV alone, and by 2007 I’d be astonished if patients had not been coming forward with concerns about his competence too, given his behaviour during my surgery.

“This whole debacle signals a monumental regulatory failure at the very heart of NHS England as well as Scotland. It is why we need a national inquiry and why the Scottish inquiry must expand its terms of reference to include just what all the regulatory bodies knew and failed to do to stop Eljamel long before he was able to hurt hundreds of patients.”

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Eljamel qualified in Tripoli before moving to Liverpool, where he wrote a number of research papers which are still available today with no warning of the accusations of harm to so many patents.

He also worked in Dublin as a senior neurosurgical registrar.

The BBC carried out checks on Eljamel’s CV and found that although he claimed to have completed a fellowship at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, nobody there had any record of it.

Eljamel also claimed to be a visiting professor at the universities of Connecticut and San Diego, but when the BBC contacted them, the universities said this was not the case.

Kelly added: “It is chilling to think there were so many red flags in Eljamel’s past, right there in his CV, but nobody seemed able to carry out the most cursory checks to catch them.”

Last week Fife MP Richard Baker and his Liverpool Labour colleague Dan Carden demanded a national inquiry into Eljamel, calling for the Scottish judge-led inquiry to expand its terms or reference to include national regulatory bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) so they can be examined on their failure to protect patients.

Top Liverpool lawyer Ronnie Hutcheon said: “It is utterly astonishing that Eljamel was able to remain in the powerful positions he held while there were so many concerns.

“I urge the Walton to now do the right thing and be transparent about what happened while he was working there.

“Patient safety is paramount in a situation like this, and I welcome the Department of Health ordering a review of records in all the areas where Eljamel worked. If anyone treated by him has concerns, they must come forward and get checked.”

More than 200 Ninewells patients have come forward, sparking the Eljamel Inquiry, led by Lord Weir and bankrolled by the Scottish Government to the tune of over £1 million so far, before hearing any evidence.

The inquiry has so far refused to include the HSE, sparking anger from victims.

Jules Rose, 53, from Kinross, said: “The more we learn about this scandal the more it points to national systemic failure to catch surgeons who cause harm and protect patients.

“We cannot tolerate this happening ever again, and we must get to the heart of why and how this was allowed to happen, and who is responsible.”

The Department of Health and Social Care said while it has not yet received any reports of harm by Eljamel in England, it has “instructed NHS trusts he is alleged to have worked at to thoroughly check their records”.

Glenrothes and Mid Fife Labour MP Richard Baker said he has written to UK Government ministers “urging them to ensure the HSE is engaged with the Eljamel Inquiry”.

He added: “Absolute credit to The Sunday Post for pushing Eljamel’s background into the public domain, because relevant bodies in England are now reacting as a result.”