Great Ormond Street hospital (Gosh) has been urged to release a confidential report into one of its former surgeons after an investigation found patients suffered life-changing injuries following treatment.
The London hospital has begun an urgent review of 721 cases of children seen by Yaser Jabbar, who worked as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the NHS trust between 2017 and September 2023.
Patients treated by Jabbar have suffered life-changing injuries including amputations, permanent deformities and chronic pain, according to the Sunday Times.
This included one case where a child was left with one leg up to 20cm shorter than the other, while another had a limb amputated despite experts later finding the outcome could have been avoided, the paper reported.
One father’s six-year-old son was also left in “terrible pain” after undergoing a lower limb reconstruction in July 2021.
A review of the hospital’s paediatric orthopaedic service carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) said the department where Jabbar worked was “dysfunctional” and warned that the lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
Consultants behaved in “outdated, unacceptable and hierarchical” ways and patients were put at risk by “eye-rolling” senior doctors who belittled their junior colleagues, the report found.
The 100-page report has not been made public.
Of the 39 cases that have been reviewed so far, 15 patients have come to no harm, nine have suffered “low to moderate harm” and 13 have come to “severe harm” – that is likely to include lifelong injuries, the hospital said.
Caroline Murgatroyd, of Hudgell Solicitors, which represents some former patients, said that the hospital should release the RCS report to the public.
She told Times Radio: “We have had no indication that it is going to be published. But we can’t have half the story. This is also important for staff who raised concerns about Jabbar... It is very important that it is brought out into the open.”
The firm is seeking “substantial compensation” for families treated by Jabbar.
Jabbar declined to comment to the Sunday Times, but said he would given an account “to the relevant authorities at their request”.
Great Ormond Street is one of London’s most important hospitals and the largest centre for research and postgraduate teaching in children's health in Europe.
A spokesperson for Gosh said in a statement: “As part of the review, the RCS raised concerns around the practice of a surgeon who no longer works at the trust, and other practice within the service. We are taking these concerns incredibly seriously.
“We have contacted all patients of the surgeon and a group of independent experts from other paediatric hospitals are reviewing the care of all the patients of this surgeon. We are incredibly sorry for the worry and uncertainty this review may cause them.”
They added: “Staff made senior management aware of concerns in June 2022 and a fact-finding investigation started shortly after, with follow-up actions and reviews to address immediate issues, leading us to contact the RCS within 18 working days from the point senior management were made aware to discuss commissioning an external review.
“We have contacted all patients and families who have been impacted and where harm has been identified, discussed their cases with them under our duty of candour. To all of them, we wish to convey our sincere apologies.”
