{"id":444237,"date":"2026-02-25T05:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T05:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444237\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T05:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T05:20:16","slug":"butcher-brain-surgeon-patients-called-to-meeting-with-health-chiefs-after-hospital-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444237\/","title":{"rendered":"Butcher brain surgeon patients called to meeting with health chiefs after hospital protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Sam Eljamel, is believed to have harmed more than 200 patients, with some said to have had life-changing injuries.<\/p>\n

17:45, 23 Feb 2026Updated 20:25, 23 Feb 2026<\/p>\n

\"Eljamel<\/p>\n

Eljamel campaigners are meeting with health chiefs after a protest at Ninewells Hospital last week(Image: Daily Record)<\/p>\n

Patients of disgraced brain surgeon<\/a> Sam Eljamel have been summoned to crunch talks with health chiefs – days after calling for one\u2019s resignation at a hospital protest. The former head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee <\/a>is believed to have harmed more than 200 patients, with some said to have had life-changing injuries.<\/p>\n

He was suspended in 2013, resigned from the health board the following year and removed from the medical register in 2015, but returned to his native Libya while a public inquiry into his work<\/a> in the UK continues.<\/p>\n

Scots harmed by the rogue medic protested outside Ninewells in Dundee last week alongside 40 bags of shredded paper, representing the destruction of 40 theatre log books by NHS Tayside in September, despite a \u2018no not destroy\u2019 order, before handing over a letter demanding the resignation of chief executive Nicky Connor.<\/p>\n

On Monday night, 23 patients attended a meeting at a Dundee hotel with Connor and clinical director Dr James Cotton – the first collective meeting campaigners have had with the health board.<\/p>\n

\"Surgeon<\/p>\n

Surgeon Sam Eljamel has returned to Libya(Image: cascadenews.co.uk)<\/p>\n

Lead campaigner Jules Rose, who discovered Eljamel had removed her tear gland instead of a tumour on her brain, said it was a \u201cvery emotional\u201d meeting, which saw 23 patients each tell the medical chiefs of the specific impact Eljamel has had on their lives and contained some \u201cangry exchanges\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThey now understand the full extent of patients\u2019 traumatic experiences and what we\u2019ve been left with.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few spoke about how they have felt suicidal or have attempted suicide. If they haven\u2019t understood the severity and gravity of the harm before, they surely have now.<\/p>\n

\u201cNicky Connor said this is the beginning of how we move forward together. She said she doesn\u2019t want this to just be words. She said she understands it\u2019s difficult for us to believe what they\u2019re saying at this point but has given her personal commitment to move forward in an open and transparent way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public inquiry into Eljamel\u2019s conduct heard in November that Ninewells log books had been destroyed two months earlier.<\/p>\n

NHS Tayside told inquiry chair Lord Weir it \u201cdeeply regretted\u201d the error, which it said happened because staff were not aware of the logbooks\u2019 connection with Eljamel.<\/p>\n

\"Patients<\/p>\n

Patients protested over the destruction of theatre log books(Image: Daily Record)<\/p>\n

The letter urging chief exec Connor to step down on Thursday said public confidence in her leadership had been \u201cirreparably damaged\u201d.<\/p>\n

In January, campaigners staged another protest at Holyrood demanding First Minster John swinney intervene and remove a three-year time bar they say is preventing many victims from pursuing compensation claims against NHS Tayside.<\/p>\n

Rose said the health board had stated at the meeting it was \u201cworking towards a proposal\u201d where hopefully the time bar could be removed.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Rose said: \u201cWhile we welcome the long-overdue meeting with NHS Tayside – first promised in November 2022 – it raises suspicion as to why the health board is suddenly willing to engage with patients and hear about the harm and frustration we have endured. Is this on the back of the protest on their doorstep?<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving endured years of stalling, deflection and gaslighting with this healthboard, myself and patients are of the opinion that they don\u2019t care about the harm caused to patients and the ever lasting trauma suffered, but they do care about their pay packets.”<\/p>\n

\"Campaigners<\/p>\n

Campaigners protest at Ninewells Hospital on Thursday(Image: Daily Record)<\/p>\n

NHS Tayside has previously said it does not apply a blanket approach to the three-year time bar in any legal claim.<\/p>\n

After last week\u2019s Ninewells protest it said it remains \u201cdeeply sorry for the destruction in error\u201d of a number of hard copy theatre logbooks.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cNHS Tayside is taking all steps to try to ensure there can be no further destruction of any documentation in error. The Board will continue to cooperate with The Eljamel Inquiry and will be accountable for its decision-making and actions taken in response to Mr Eljamel\u2019s practice and the concerns raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Scottish Government has said it fully recognises the \u201cpain and distress experienced by people impacted by Mr Eljamel\u2019s practice\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cThat is why we established the statutory public inquiry into the actions of Mr Eljamel and NHS Tayside to ensure patients obtain answers to their questions and that lessons are learned.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinisters have complete confidence in Lord Weir and the independent inquiry to get to the truth for patients and families without influence, interference or speculation on the outcome of the Inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google\u2019s preferred sources. Click HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Sam Eljamel, is believed to have harmed more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,11263,60764,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-444237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-justice","tag-ninewells-hospital","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}