‘They tried to silence me’: Patient harmed by surgeon Sam Eljamel on NHS Tayside

Ms Rose, however, has received sight of documents that show NHS Tayside writing to the then-health minister Humza Yousaf to say she had been “aggressive” and “vulgar” and they would no longer communicate with her.

In a letter in response, Mr Yousaf says he sees no evidence of any such conduct by the mother-of-two and tells the health board to enter into mediation with her.

Ms Rose said: “In the letter I have been given, Humza Yousaf writes back and say, ‘She’s quite right to feel aggrieved at the treatment she’s received.

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“‘Therefore, I suggest that you continue liaising with Miss Rose and enter into mediation.’

“This was last November but I’ve only just had copies of the letters sent to me and when I saw them I thought, ‘They’ve tried to shut me down, they’re tried to silence me’.”

The ongoing dispute with NHS Tayside is as a result of Ms Rose’s long-running campaign for justice for patients – thought to be as many as 270 – harmed by Eljamel while he was in the health board’s employ.

There had been concerns about the surgeon’s work and he had been placed under supervision – but Ms Rose’s operation occurred in August 2013, a month after that supervision began.

She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after going for laser eye surgery that year and believed herself to be in good hands when she was treated at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital.

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Ms Rose even recalls sending her surgeon a thank you card.

Eljamel had assured Ms Rose, who was then working full time, a marathon runner and had two small girls at home, that the procedure was a success.

Then, however, news came that the specimen the doctor had removed was a healthy tear duct. The tumour was still there and Ms Rose would have to undergo a second operation.

The tumour, which was benign, was then removed successfully but Ms Rose came into contact with another former Eljamel patient, Pat Kelly, who had been left at risk of permanent paralysis after an operation on his spine.

Before long, she was in touch with dozens of other harmed patients – and beginning a ferocious battle for the truth that has been ongoing now for a decade.

Eljamel, who is believed to be working in Libya, is currently subject to multiple civil suits for compensation.

He had been a head of neurosurgery at NHS Tayside and eventually voluntarily removed himself from the General Medical Council’s register.

There are attempts being made to have him extradited to Scotland.

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“Once you think it can’t get any worse,”, Ms Rose said, “another patient contacts me and tells a story and it’s never ending.

“Even now I’m still having patients contact me.”

Last November, at the time of the letter from NHS Tayside which came to light through a Subject Access Request (SAR), Ms Rose began a campaign for a full public inquiry into what had gone wrong at NHS Tayside for the damage caused by Eljamel to be so extensive.

When the news of the campaign hit the headlines, she said, more and more patients came forward – she now has 166 in her collective, the Patients Action Group. Campaigning is like a second part time job on top of her full time work with children with additional support needs.

To keep on top of it all, she details taking calls while she’s driving and sneaking out on lunch breaks to take media interviews. It is exhausting but, she believes, vital work.

NHS Tayside has now identified 98 complaints against Eljamel. Three were received in 2011 and three in 2012 but the majority were lodged after his suspension in December 2013.

“I remember when we launched the inquiry campaign I said to Pat, ‘Pat, I don’t think I’ve got the energy for this’ and he says ‘neither have I’. Pat’s housebound pretty much.

“But when we were initially refused the inquiry, it just fuelled me and I just got my second wind and it was very, very intense.

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“I don’t like to see injustice and I don’t like to be walked over and that’s what they were doing – they were treating us with contempt.”

While Ms Rose counts herself lucky – she has PTSD and struggles with mental health after effects but no physical ill health – the testimony of other Eljamel patients is harrowing.

This takes its toll but she believes in the strength of her campaign and the vital importance of securing the answers she feels victims need and are not getting, despite meetings with both health secretaries; Humza Yousaf and Michael Matheson; with NHS Tayside and an apology from the health board.

She feels particular fury with NHS Tayside; the parties are in touch now using a mediator.

Ms Rose said: “I attended a meeting with the health board and I read out my impact statement to them.

“My daughters were eight and 10 at the time and I asked them to write down how they felt and how it impacted them and it was a very powerful statement and I read that out to them.

“Once they’ve listened to me and they go home tonight and they’re sitting around their dinner table, do they have an ounce of remorse or do you know, do they look across to their daughter and think Jesus Christ that could have happened to her, you know?

“And at the end of the day when we’re talking about Tayside, I feel hatred.

“When I stand in front of the camera I am strong and I still believe my cause but I’ve got emotions too and I think they just think I’m just this hard b*tch and I’m not.”

As well as the public inquiry, Michael Matheson has pledged to carry out one-to-one patients reviews with the people in the Patients Action Group, which Ms Rose has said she will help facilitate.

She said: “There are still a lot of questions around that – how long is that going to take and who do they put first and who goes last?”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said the process to appoint an inquiry chair is “ongoing” and discussions are underway with potential candidates.

There is concern from patients that Mr Matheson has lost credibility too, over the recent obfuscation around charges for iPad data while on holiday in Morocco.

Ms Rose added: “What concerns us is, where is his duty of candour, why was there such lack of transparency – where’s the trust?”

It has been three months since the Scottish Government committed to a public inquiry into Eljamel and the euphoria of the win is wearing off.

So far no chair has been appointed and there is no time scale for the inquiry – and the Patients Action Group is dusting off its placards in preparation for more campaigning in the new year if answers are not forthcoming.

Ms Rose said: “We appreciate that a public inquiry is going to be lengthy and time consuming and not going to happen overnight, but three months have passed now and it’s time to see some action.

“What’s happening here? What’s the hold up?

“For some patients redress will come in the form of monetary compensation and for others it will be care and support, for others it will be answers from the inquiry.

“But redress for every harmed patient is what I want to see and what keeps me going.

“I hear their stories and I’m living with their pain every day.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Once [an inquiry chair is] appointed, the Terms of Reference will be developed and the Cabinet Secretary will provide Parliament with an update.

“We are now at the stage where discussions have taken place and are underway with candidates identified by the Lord President.

“Discussions are also underway to take forward the independent clinical review of individual cases of former patients of Sam Eljamel, for those former patients who would like to participate.”

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “NHS Tayside apologises to former patients of the surgeon and remains committed to responding to enquiries. “Additionally, we would encourage any former patient who has concerns about Professor Eljamel to contact the NHS Tayside Patient Liaison Response Team on tay.patientliaisonresponse@nhs.scot “We also remain committed to do whatever is required to contribute and participate fully in the Public Inquiry process.”