‘Furious’ Eljamel patients accuse NHS Tayside of failing duty of candourA public inquiry is taking place after patients of Sam Eljamel raised concerns he had harmed as many as 200 people.Campaigners had long called for a public inquiry into the actions of the disgraced surgeon and the health board which employed him (PA)PA WireDanyel Vanreenen16 minutes ago
“Furious” patients and victims of disgraced brain surgeon Sam Eljamel have accused NHS Tayside of failing its duty of candour.
It comes after the health board’s chief executive apologised for the destruction of logbooks relating to the surgeon.
Mr Eljamel was a consultant neurosurgeon at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee from 1995 until his suspension in December 2013.
A public inquiry is taking place after patients of Mr Eljamel raised concerns that he had harmed as many as 200 people.
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Current chief executive of NHS Tayside, Nicky Connor, gave evidence to the Eljamel Inquiry during its second day of evidential hearings on Wednesday.
She has been accused by Mr Eljamel’s patients and victims of not knowing, or answering, in detail simple questions about the medical malpractice of Mr Eljamel.
Former patient Jules Rose, who led the campaign for a public inquiry, accused Ms Connor of failing to answer simple questions and of not knowing basic information about the scandal.
“We’re all upset – we’re furious,” Ms Rose said.
“This just evidences again that NHS Tayside are failing in their duty of candour.
“Myself and the patients have been trying to find out answers to our questions, and Ms Connor can’t even answer them under oath correctly, or she doesn’t have the answer.
“In a way, it’s music to our ears because we now feel vindicated. What we have been shouting for, campaigning for, and the painful, stressful, traumatic journey that we’ve been on – it just highlights the toxicity of NHS Tayside.”
Ms Connor was appointed chief executive of NHS Tayside in 2024, after the Scottish Government announced a public inquiry would be held.
Sam Eljamel worked as a neurosurgeon at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee (PA)PA Archive
During her tenure, the health board has come under fire after it emerged about 40 hard copy theatre logbooks linked to Mr Eljamel had been destroyed by NHS Tayside employees in 2025 – despite a “do not destroy” order that was issued by inquiry chairman Lord Weir in October 2024.
An external investigation, undertaken by AAB, found there was “no malicious intent”, and instead said “inadequate” systems and processes contributed to the destruction of the logbooks.
Ms Connor was questioned about the destruction of the logbooks at the inquiry on Wednesday, and she accepted the incident has “eroded trust and had a significant impact on patients”.
She said: “I am personally sorry for the impact of logbooks on patients, I am recognising that it should not have happened and it did.”
Ms Connor also told the inquiry she accepts accountability for the logbooks’ destruction as the accountable officer for NHS Tayside, but said she does not accept personal responsibility.
“I am not intending to resign as part of this,” she said.
She claimed she took both “immediate and sustained actions” after she was made aware of the logbooks’ destruction, and she told the inquiry NHS Tayside now has an “absolutely robust framework” in place to prevent similar failures in the future.
“I was not responsible for the individual actions that took place, nor was I directly involved in the destruction of the logbooks, but that does not negate the responsibility that I hold and discharge through my team to ensure the logbooks were under the records are kept safe,” Ms Connor said.
She said NHS Tayside “fully accepts” there have been a range of failures around document management and communication.
The inquiry was told on Tuesday that patients of Mr Eljamel were left with “horrific” disabilities following his operations, and some allegedly had the wrong parts of their bodies removed.
The inquiry, in Edinburgh, continues.
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