Patient Safety: Driving Systemic Change

We are the Patients’ Action Group, a dedicated group of patients who have suffered significant harm due to the actions of surgeon Mr. Muftah Salem ‘Sam’ Eljamel. While he primarily practiced at hospitals in NHS Tayside in Scotland from the 1990s, his activities also extended to private healthcare, other areas of NHS Scotland (including NHS Fife), and previously to the NHS in Liverpool and hospitals in Dublin.

Concerns about Mr. Eljamel’s practice first emerged publicly in 2013, revealing multiple serious issues affecting patients under his care. Despite a decade of persistent efforts to seek answers, NHS Tayside has failed to conduct a transparent investigation, and the Scottish Government’s scrutiny has been inadequate. Both have insisted this remains an “internal NHS Tayside issue,” denying patients the candour and accountability they deserve for the systemic errors that allowed such harm to occur.

This is not merely an isolated incident; it is a critical issue for all patients across Scotland, and beyond. The evident internal bias and profound lack of transparency within systems designed to protect patient rights have catastrophically failed. The ongoing refusal to provide clear answers strongly suggests an attempt to conceal the broader systemic failures that led to prolonged and recurring harm for numerous patients.

From the outset, NHS Tayside neglected to verify Mr. Eljamel’s credentials and subsequently failed to ensure his practice was safe and appropriate. This initial lapse, compounded by his repeated clinical errors and the undeniable harm he caused, highlights a fundamental lack of ownership and scrutiny regarding how such sustained failures could persist within any public or private health service for such a long time.

Without a full, unbiased external inquiry that considers the full breadth of his practice, there can be no assurance that similar failures are not happening right now, at any level, in any part of our health service. A public inquiry is the only way to restore public confidence that all relevant health authorities and governments are taking this crisis seriously, and to ensure accountability across all areas where harm occurred.

We are now actively tracking the progress of the ‘Eljamel Inquiry’, the official Public Inquiry, which was announced in September 2023. Alongside this, the ‘Eljamel Independent Clinical Review’ is also underway for affected patients. While these initiatives have been established, we continue our urgent quest for full answers and accountability as we await further details on their timeframes and findings.

Furthermore, there is an ongoing Police Scotland investigation, codenamed ‘Operation Stringent’, into Mr. Eljamel. Patients are calling for this investigation to be expanded to include the entirety of NHS Tayside and all other staff involved.

Our group continues to grow as new members join regularly, united in our commitment to help and support those patients living with what happened and to ensure justice and accountability. We will not give up.