Humza Yousaf commits to public inquiry into disgraced surgeon Professor Sam Eljamel<br /><br />A public inquiry will be held into the disgraced brain surgeon Sam Eljamel, the Scottish government has confirmed.<br /><br />Eljamel harmed dozens of patients at NHS Tayside, leaving some with life-changing injuries.<br /><br />He was head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee until December 2013, when he was suspended.<br /><br />Health Secretary Michael Matheson said he was persuaded of the need for the inquiry after reading a damning due diligence review into NHS Tayside.<br /><br />It follows a long-running campaign which saw almost 150 former patients of the surgeon calling for the inquiry.<br /><br />At First Minister's Questions, Humza Yousaf said the decision was taken after "very careful consideration" of the "extremely disturbing" findings of a due diligence review into NHS Tayside.<br /><br />It found that concerns about Eljamel were not acted upon with the urgency they deserved.<br /><br />Mr Matheson told MSPs he had been unconvinced of the need for a public inquiry until he read that report.<br /><br />He said it had revealed significant information that had not previously been known by the Scottish government, despite eight reviews since 2018.<br /><br />"That raised serious concerns for me on the openness and the transparency there has been to date from NHS Tayside," he added.<br /><br />Mr Matheson said he had concluded that a public inquiry was "the only route to get to the bottom of who knew what and when, and what contributed to the failures described by NHS Tayside".<br /><br />The health secretary said he also wanted to see individual cases reviewed independently of NHS Tayside in a "person-centred, trauma-informed" manner.
