Sam Eljamel’s public inquiry began hearing evidence in Edinburgh today, three years after it was first announced. The first witness is Liz Smith, who once represented some of his former patients as MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife.
The inquiry is examining harm linked to the former head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and whether earlier reviews and investigations were hindered by missing documents. It is also hearing from NHS Tayside, the Scottish Government, the University of Dundee and regulatory or professional bodies in its first phase.
Edinburgh hearings and Waverley Gate
The hearings had been due in April but were postponed because of safety concerns around the venue at Waverley Gate. That delay meant patients who had been waiting for the first evidential hearings had to wait longer before the inquiry moved from announcement to testimony.
Liz Smith’s evidence opens a phase that will test how much was known, what records survived and how previous reviews were handled. The inquiry’s focus on documents is not abstract: in cases such as this, missing material can determine whether a complaint is traced, compared and acted on consistently.
Jules Rose and Police Scotland
Jules Rose, a lead patient campaigner and former patient, said Eljamel removed her tear gland instead of a tumour on her brain. She said it has been eight years since they complained to Police Scotland and that not one single charge has been brought.
“In terms of justice for us, we’ve still got the ongoing police investigation. It’s eight years now that we complained to Police Scotland and it’s atrocious that it has taken this long with not one single charge being brought,” she said. Rose also said, “There are many failures that need to be scrutinised here.”
Libya and prosecution
Although the inquiry is now hearing evidence, Eljamel is believed to have returned to Libya and Rose said it would be folly to assume he will be brought back to face prosecution in Scotland. She said, “Never say never for Eljamel. Stranger things have happened. It would be folly of us to think he’s going to be brought back here and face the music and be locked up with the key thrown away. But we continue to keep going. We don’t know what’s around the corner.”
Nicky Connor, the current chief executive of NHS Tayside, is due to give evidence on Wednesday and is expected to be questioned about the destruction of 40 theatre logbooks in July 2025 despite a do not destroy notice linked to a public inquiry. Whether Sam Eljamel will ever face prosecution in Scotland remains unanswered, but the inquiry now has a record to test against the missing papers, the delayed hearings and the complaints from former patients.
