In 2016, the Daily Mail ran a story in which they’d discovered that over 70% of doctors that had been struck off were born outside the UK. The idea is always pushed that these people are selfless, well-educated professionals here purely for altruistic reasons and that without their charity, the NHS would collapse, and our country would be left without a functional healthcare system.
But that is not the case. There are many examples of this government’s policy ruining people’s lives through malpractice, but in Scotland, this one takes the oatcake. Sam Eljamel, the head of neurosurgery in NHS Tayside, a man who had worked as a neurosurgeon in Dundee since 1995, offered to operate on a then 21-year-old Leann Sutherland to cure her chronic migraines. This man performed surgery seven times on the poor woman starting in 2011, leaving her with life-altering injuries. Leann now gets around on crutches and has a shunt in her body to control her spinal fluid.
This happened in 2011; NHS Tayside claimed they only knew about issues with Mr Eljamel in 2013. But a whistleblower has said that the health board for Tayside were well aware of serious concerns about Mr Eljamel in 2009. Still, they let this happen, and when Leann needed repeat operations, all from the same surgeon, they didn’t put 2 and 2 together. Of course, this is just negligence, but still, heads should roll. However, how much of this comes down to cowardice? How much of a blind eye was turned because this man was of a migrant background? How much were the health board afraid of being labelled “racist”, and did this affect their choices? Or are they just totally inept?
Either way, it needs to be better.
Three other surgeons have also spoken about his behaviour, suggesting he was allowed to behave like a “god” due to the amount of research money he brought in. This brings us to another part of Leann’s story. Mr Eljamel essentially used her to test new surgical glues. After her initial operation, removing a piece of her skull to reduce pressure, the wound was sealed with trail glue. A trail glue that failed, leaving Leann leaking fluid from her brain essentially.
Do we need people like Eljamel? Should he have been made head of a department?
What was supposed to be one surgery and a couple of days in the hospital turned into seven surgeries and months of suffering from meningitis and hydrocephalus (spinal fluid buildup on the brain). The Life of this poor woman has been left in tatters by Eljamel. And she isn’t alone. According to the BBC, around 100 patients are calling for an enquiry into this man and his actions.
According to the whistleblower and the surgeons interviewed by the BBC, Mr Eljamel didn’t like to use X-rays due to his arrogance. As a result, he operated in the wrong place on at least 70 people’s spines, leaving many with permanent injuries. One woman, Jules Rose, even had her tear duct removed by Eljamel rather than a tumour.
So, mass malpractice from the top man, scores of patients injured, many with permanent conditions. And it doesn’t seem like anyone is sitting with bars for windows. Certainly not Mr Eljamel; he was last reported to be in Libya, practising medicine, operating on people. He removed himself from the GMC (General Medical Council) register after restrictions were placed on him back in 2013. He wasn’t arrested or tried; he just left with plenty of money and zero consequences.
Eljamel and the Tayside health board members should be answering tough questions, and a hefty sentence should be awaiting them after they are responded to. An honest government concerned about its people’s treatment and health service would already have such measures. However, our SNP government used to have Eljamel as one of their advisors. So it already goes all the way to the top.
Our people deserve better in all aspects of life, but definitely in medicine. Some of our people are going through hell because the government favours employing doctors from abroad and covering for them with the myth that “the NHS would collapse without migrants” than actually investing in our children’s education. This myth needs to be challenged every time it’s heard, and more people need to know about the negligence that results from this policy and how the government hide it to save face.
We don’t need to employ doctors from abroad; we need a policy that recognises the potential of our children and provides them with quality education and better opportunities.
