Chairs Appointed for Inquiry & Reviews Appointed
Health Secretary Neil Gray has appointed chairs for the Public Inquiry and Independent Clinical Reviews into the actions of Sam Eljamel, and how the circumstances were handled by NHS Tayside.
The Honourable Lord Weir, a serving judge of the Supreme Courts in Scotland and former sheriff on the All Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court will chair the Public Inquiry.
Professor Stephen Wigmore, Regius Chair of Clinical Surgery and Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, will chair the Independent Clinical Reviews for patients who wish to take part. To ensure the Chair is able to draw on expertise in Mr Eljamel’s area of practice, he will be supported by a number of expert neurosurgeons.
Mr Eljamel was employed by NHS Tayside from 1995 to 2014, and concerns about his practice were first raised to NHS Tayside in 2011. He was suspended in 2013 after several complaints and a review by the Royal College of Surgeons in England.
The Health Secretary will meet with Lord Weir to discuss a planned meeting with patients in the coming weeks, so that Terms of Reference can be agreed for the inquiry. A plan will also be drawn up and published which sets out the processes and a delivery timeframe for establishing an inquiry team. The Independent Clinical Reviews will start in April.
After more than 12 years as an MSP you begin to think there is little that could shock you, but then along comes something as utterly appalling as the Eljamel scandal at NHS Tayside.
GRAEME
I was knocked sideways last year by the findings of NHS Tayside’s own review of reviews, with the scale of its revelations prompting the Scottish Government to order a full public inquiry and set up an independent review of each of the relevant cases, should the individuals wish this.
I welcome the news of how this is progressing, and hope that those constituents tragically affected can take some degree of reassurance regarding long-awaited action.
I had held reservations about a Public Inquiry as it alone would not provide answers in individual cases, so the commencement of the Independent Review from April is an important step forward.
I have met with Mr Eljamel’s former patients, including some outside Parliament last week, and understand the strength of their feelings and the importance of progressing these investigations as quickly as possible.
HEALTH SECRETARY, NEIL GRAY
Mr Eljamel’s former patients have the right to answers and we must learn from their experiences to try and ensure this does not happen again. The people of Scotland must have confidence in our National Health Service and I plan for the Public Inquiry and Independent Clinical Reviews to help restore any lost trust.
Our approach of establishing independent clinical reviews to run alongside the Public Inquiry will give patients the option of having a personalised review of their care – something that would not have been possible within the remit of the Public Inquiry.
Background
The Hon. Lord Weir (Robert Weir)
A graduate of Durham and Dundee universities, he became an advocate in 1995. He built up a civil practice and served as an advocate depute from 2005 – 2008, before being appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2010. Lord Weir was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Courts in April 2020, having sat as a temporary judge of the Court of Session from 2017.
Professor Stephen Wigmore
Professor Wigmore works in Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic Surgical Services and the Edinburgh Transplant Unit at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
