- Actions of Sam Eljamel and NHS Tayside to be examined
Health Secretary has announced a Public
Inquiry will take place into the conduct of former neurosurgeon
Sam Eljamel.
Mr Matheson said that in light of the last week’s Due Diligence
Review, published by NHS Tayside, he has now concluded a Public
Inquiry is needed to get the answers to the questions patients
have about the surgeon, who worked in Tayside between 1995 and
2013.
Individual former patients who have ongoing concerns will also be
able to request an independent clinical review of their care and
treatment by Mr Eljamel.
Mr Matheson said: “Many former patients still live with the
consequences of being treated by Mr Eljamel and still have many
unanswered questions.
“The report presented last week to the board of NHS Tayside
outlines a number of failings that I believe can only be examined
thoroughly by a public inquiry. It also brings forward
significant information not previously known to the Scottish
Government. Given the length of time since the first concerns
were raised about Mr Eljamel, this raises real concerns.
“It is now clear that the Board’s governance obligations were not
consistently met in respect of how reviews of concerns about Mr
Eljamel were actioned.
“I consider that this now means that commissioning a full public
inquiry under the terms of the Inquiries Act 2005, with the
powers to compel witnesses, is the only route to determine what
happened, what contributed to the failures described by NHS
Tayside and what can be done to prevent this happening again.
“A full public inquiry will not necessarily answer the individual
clinical questions of each former patient about their own
particular circumstances. For that reason I do still consider
that an individual clinical review of patients’ individual cases,
where that is what individual patients want, remains necessary.
“This will allow a person-centred, trauma-informed review of each
patient’s own clinical case, addressing their individual needs
and circumstances and attempting to offer answers in a bespoke
and personalised way that an inquiry may not.”
Further details of the Public Inquiry and the process for
arranging individual clinical care reviews will be announced in
due course.
