Butcher doctor victims to take fight to Holyrood over ‘dithering’ on public inquiry

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Victims of brain butcher Sam Eljamel will gather in Holyrood to protest over “dithering” on the public inquiry into the affair.

Many of Eljamel’s former patients have been left with permanent disabilities from his botched surgeries. But patients don’t just blame neurosurgeon Eljamel, they also call out NHS Tayside for allowing him to continue to operate unsupervised for so long.After years of the victims’ campaigning then-Health Secretary Michael Matheson announced in September that a full public inquiry would be held.Matheson said that it was clear that the Board’s governance obligations were "not consistently met in respect of how reviews of concerns about Mr Eljamel were actioned".

But nearly six months on no inquiry chairman has been appointed.Campaigner Jules Rose commented: "While they are dithering we are dying." Jules underwent surgery at Eljamel’s hands in 2013.

The surgeon was supposed to remove a brain tumour but instead removed a tear duct and she had to undergo a second surgery to get rid of the tumour.Ahead of Wednesday's protest Jules said: "We are hoping Mr Gray (Neil Gray, the new Health Secretary) will do a better job than his predecessors."He needs to take this matter seriously by recognising the escalating adverse impact on patients which only increases day by day."Therefore, get this chair appointed and immediately thereafter we expect to be in consultation regarding an agreement with our terms of reference."The Scottish Government needs to immediately cease treating patients like the can that gets constantly kicked up the street.