Disclosure, BBC Scotland

Just caught part of the "Harmed by my Surgeon" on  Disclosure, BBC Scotland

It's not just that Sam Eljamel harmed his patients for years, but that the Royal College of Surgeons and NHS Tayside tried to cover up their failings. 

The board also asked the Royal College of Surgeons to investigate which they did, sending an interim report in October 2013 followed by a final one on 6 December.

That date is important because NHS Tayside told BBC Disclosure that it acted "immediately" to suspend Mr Eljamel and report him to the GMC.

And yet we know that the health board allowed him to operate on Ms Rose on 9 December - three days later.

A report finally released 

The report talks about;

• a surgeon who failed to supervise his trainees
• who regularly got his juniors to do his operations for him, and who "rushed" through surgery
• Mr Eljamel often being difficult to get hold of because he was busy doing private work
• some of his colleagues complaining he had "bullied" them
• taking on too many cases, and there were examples given where he was "unwilling to scrub up to join in [surgery]".
• and questioning how the health board managed oversight of Mr Eljamel.

Who was Sam Eljamel?

He was the head of the neurosurgery department in Ninewells - one of just four specialist centres in Scotland.

The surgeon was an adviser to the Scottish government and also worked at Fernbrae private hospital in Dundee.

We know that he qualified in Tripoli in Libya before moving to Liverpool.

From there he went to Dublin where Mr Eljamel worked as a senior neurosurgical registrar.

He then went to Connecticut where he claims he completed a fellowship at Hartford Hospital.

Although when we contacted them they said they had no record of this.

He also claims he was a visiting professor at the Universities of Connecticut and San Diego but when BBC Disclosure contacted them the universities said this was not the case.

What happened to Eljamel?

He was allowed to retire from NHS Tayside in May 2014 and to remove himself from the UK medical register.

It means: no further investigation, no sanction and no disciplinary action by the General Medical Council.

The GMC told BBC Disclosure that its priority was "to protect patients". Not to "punish doctors".

NHS Tayside's medical director, Prof Andrew Russell, said: "We have heard from a number of patients from 2012 to 2016 who have had concerns and we have ensured we have listened to their complaints and taken appropriate action to support patients as per our duty of care.
"There has been much learning by the organisation immediately following these events and many improvements have been made over the past five years.
"I would like to reassure our patients that NHS Tayside complies with all national standards relating to spinal surgery, with patient safety front and centre of every procedure carried out."

Another intimidating bully plays the system and walks away.

This followed on from a report on BBC Breakfast. I can't find any record of it, as yet, on the website, but it related to suicide, depression and sponsorship/partnership of the campaign by Harlequins RUFC.

With suicide currently such a hot topic, there must be a connection to the historical acceptance of bullying in the workplace.
It is so prevalent that Management know that they can bypass the "rules" and get away with bullying their employees.
The employees know that it is difficult to report bullying, especially by their management, for fear of retribution, which will be backed by higher management. See my comments on DHL, Leeds.