Victim 'confident' new evidence on disgraced surgeon Sam Eljamel will hold people to account

A campaigner working to get justice for patients harmed by the disgraced neurosurgeon Sam Eljamel has given new evidence to police.

Patients claim Eljamel harmed as many as 200 people, saying his botched surgeries at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee permanently changed their lives.

Jules Rose was one of these patients twelve years ago when Eljamel removed her tear gland instead of a brain tumour.

She has been a vocal campaigner in the fight for justice for patients of Eljamel, and now claims new evidence she has given police to help “hold individual people to account”.

“I am 100% confident that the information that I have presented will hold individual people to account within NHS Tayside health board,” she told STV News.

“They knew exactly what Eljamel was doing. They are complicit in the cover-up, turning a blind eye and allowing him to commit this harm.”

Eljamel served as head of neurosurgery at Ninewells from 1995 until December 2013, when the board suspended him following three months of “indirect supervision” triggered by complaints – oversight that was later described as “inadequate”.

Patients have struggled to get compensation due to a three-year time bar.

Dawn Harris said she contacted solicitors over ten years ago, but was told they wouldn’t take on her case because it was more than three years since she was harmed.

“To be basically left destitute. It then affected my marriage, so I became a single parent to two kids, still with all the disabilities, and I just feel really angry about that because I was told I’d be back to work in two weeks,” she said.

The issue was raised at Holyrood.

Liz Smith MSP, Scottish Conservatives, Mid Scotland & Fife, said: “What’s the Scottish Government’s position on whether NHS Tayside should exempt legal claims by former patients of Professor Sam Eljamel from the three-year time bar which is currently in place?”

In response, John Swinney said: “We fully expect NHS Tayside to consider all the facts and circumstances fairly on a case-by-case basis, including when considering whether to plead when a case is time-barred.

He added: “The courts themselves already have the power to allow an action to proceed out of time by overriding the time bar if they see fit.”

Jules Rose addressed the time bar, saying patients can’t even get “past the first hurdle” to justice.

“Patients can’t even get past the first hurdle with legal representation because as soon as they have a meeting with any legal firm, they’re telling them sorry, can’t represent you because of the time bar, they can’t progress their claim,” she said.

NHS Tayside said legal claims are considered on a case-by-case basis.

A public inquiry into the surgical scandal is underway with patients hoping this is the beginning of the journey to justice.

Detective superintendent Peter Sharp, from Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, said: “Significant resource from the Major Investigation Team continues to be dedicated to this extremely complex and protracted inquiry to ensure it has the experience and specialist knowledge required.

“We remain committed to working closely with colleagues at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and other partner agencies, to conclude our extensive enquiries in the timescales set by the Lord Advocate.”

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “NHS Tayside continues to fully cooperate with Police Scotland’s Operation Stringent investigation.”