Almost 100 children were harmed by a disgraced surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital who botched operations on their legs.
Dozens of young people have had to endure further surgery to correct the mistakes that left some living with chronic pain, deformities and permanent nerve damage.
One child had a leg amputated after damage caused by the specialist orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar, who worked at the hospital in central London between June 2017 and September 2023.
Some patients have been left with foot drop, a debilitating condition where the foot hangs down and cannot be pulled back up, forcing them to lift their legs high while walking to avoid tripping. Some have been left legs of different lengths by up to 20cm. One infant was four months old at the point of surgery.
Independent experts brought in by Great Ormond Street (GOSH) in 2024 have completed a review of Jabbar’s 789 patients. The hospital is expected to present the full findings to its trust board on January 29, more than two years after the surgeon was first suspended.
But the trust has confirmed there are between 85 and 100 children who came to harm at the hands of Jabbar. At least 32 suffered severe harm, potentially lifelong deformities or chronic pain. A further 36 experienced moderate harm and 18 cases were mild.
• Our children are victims of Great Ormond Street’s rogue doctor
One insider at the renowned hospital said the trust had failed to address the fundamental cultural problems that had allowed Jabbar to harm patients for so long. “If this were to happen again, do I have confidence that anything would be done differently? Absolutely not,” the source said.
Jabbar specialised in complex limb-lengthening and reconstruction procedures on children with conditions affecting their bones and joints. The procedures involve surgically breaking the bone, inserting metal rings, known as Ilizarov frames, and tension wires to hold the leg in place. Over the following months, the break is slowly widened by millimetres, allowing new bone to develop and fill the gap. Jabbar performed so many of the operations he was referred to at the hospital as “the frame guy”.
He was exposed by The Sunday Times in 2024 after Great Ormond Street announced a review of 721 of his patients. A further 68 cases were later uncovered.
Jabbar’s surgery left George Davison, right, with a worse arm deformity than before
SIMON JACOBS FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
A secret report by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), leaked by insiders, revealed Jabbar had exhibited “unacceptable and unprofessional behaviour”, including being aggressive and threatening towards staff.
It criticised his record-keeping and assessments of children before surgery. He also carried out operations for which he had not sought proper consent. Children were subjected to surgery that had no clear benefit or justification.
• My son’s surgeon told him he could stand. Then his leg snapped
The investigators criticised senior management at GOSH, revealing managers had failed to act on concerns raised six months after Jabbar joined. One concern dating to 2020 was classed as a serious incident when parents accused Jabbar of lying to them after their child had a complication after surgery. GOSH said that, on its own, the incident was not a red flag.
The RCS investigation said the trust leadership “had manifestly failed in their responsibility … A number of staff raised concerns more than once, verbally and in writing, and were met with either a lack of decisive action or, in some cases, no response at all”.
Some managers, it said, “appeared to shirk responsibility … There was no excuse for the failure to listen to staff, support them and escalate matters of concern.”
One worker at the trust criticised the hospital’s response to the scandal, claiming management had deflected responsibility rather than addressing what they described as “systemic failures in how staff concerns were handled”.
“They have focused everything on the department and one rogue surgeon,” they said. “But it was their failure to respond to concerns. Even when the RCS report came out, what they chose to do was persecute the consultants that were still there … The RCS report criticised both the executive team and senior management. I’ve seen no change in that. Those people are still in post.”
Before moving to GOSH, Jabbar worked at the NHS-run Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Trust treating adults and children. It is understood hundreds of his patients have been reviewed by that trust and a significant number were found to have been harmed. However, the trust refused to answer questions or provide details. It would not confirm whether affected patients have been notified.
Jabbar also worked at private hospitals. St John and St Elizabeth Hospital in London confirmed he held practising privileges there from 2020 to 2022 and carried out three inpatient procedures, none involving children, and there was no evidence of harm.
Bupa’s Cromwell Hospital confirmed Jabbar operated on 17 patients, one of them experiencing a complication which has since been treated.
The Portland Hospital, where Jabbar practised until being suspended in 2022, confirmed it had reviewed the care of all 43 patients seen by him but would not comment on whether any had come to harm.
Jabbar stepped down from his role at Great Ormond Street in September 2023 following an 11-month sabbatical. He gave up his licence to practise in the UK but the General Medical Council imposed conditions on his registration pending an investigation. He has since left the UK and was listed as working in Dubai, though he has been suspended by hospitals there.
Great Ormond Street Hospital said: “We are deeply sorry to all the children, young people and their families who have been affected by the actions of a surgeon working at GOSH between 2017 and 2022. We have reviewed the care of every single child involved and our report will be shared with families next month before it is made public.”