01.10.2024.
An urgent review is currently underway into former consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Yaser Jabbar after concerns were raised about his practice whilst working at leading NHS Hospital, Great Ormond Street. It is thought that this review will look into 721 cases of children seen by Mr Jabbar.
Mr Jabbar specialises in Limb Reconstruction and Paediatric Orthopaedics. It has been said that following surgeries carried out by Jabbar, some children were left with one leg up to 20cm shorter than the other, and other children are still in chronic pain years after their treatment. One child even had their limb amputated, which experts now say could have been avoided. Great Ormond Street Hospital has offered its “sincere apologies” to what has been reported in some cases as lifelong damage.
Reportedly the concerns regarding Jabbar’s behaviour arose following an external review carried out by Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) in 2022. The review focused on the performance of its paediatric surgery department and patient outcomes after staff and families voiced concerns about the quality of care it provided. The review looked into 39 cases and has found that at least 13 children have suffered “severe harm”, one of whom was just four months old, 9 have suffered “low to moderate harm”, and 15 children suffered no harm. The RCS was highly critical of the orthopaedic department at Great Ormond Street Hospital and said that it was “dysfunctional”, and the trust was run like a “political organisation”. It was said within the report that the consultant’s behaviour was “outdated”, “unacceptable”, and “hierarchical”. It has also been said that parents were “terrified” of Mr Jabbar and requested that other surgeons treat their children instead.
Many parents complained about Mr Jabbar’s practices at the time but claim that “everything was being brushed under the carpet” and complained that the hospital was slow to act and was unresponsive. Great Ormond Street has rejected such claims and say that they arranged the review by RCS within 18 days of complaints being raised by staff and families. The Trust have said that “there are a number of clear routes for staff to raise concerns”, and have said that “despite thorough investigations, we can find no records of concerns being raised by any of those routes prior to June 2022”.
Great Ormond Street Hospital have contacted all patients of the surgeon, and this thorough review will be carried out by a group of independent experts from other paediatric hospitals. It is said that this review will be conducted “at pace” and they will reflect on any wider learnings around their culture.
Legal action is currently underway against Great Ormond Street Hospital due to the serious failings in care over a number of years. It is thought that this more thorough review will uncover many more victims of negligent care and the hospital will likely face multiple claims for compensation.
Whilst Mr Jabbar has not had a licence to practice medicine in the UK since January 8th, 2024, he is now believed to be working in Dubai as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, according to Medical Accident group.
Elizabeth Wickson, Senior Associate says: “It is extremely concerning to hear that Mr Jabbar’s practices have been found to be unacceptable by the Royal College of Surgeons and to have caused harm in many cases. As a parent facing the difficult reality that your child requires surgery, you need to be able to put your absolute trust in both the surgeon and the hospital caring for your child. It is important that the review conducted by independent experts captures all those affected by Mr Jabbar’s treatment, and that the families are given clear information about what has gone wrong.”
Update from Great Ormond Street hospital:
“There has been further media coverage of the orthopaedic review which is underway at Great Ormond Street Hospital. It refers to the report from the Royal College of Surgeons being shared with patients and families.
By way of background, we asked the Royal College of Surgeons to carry out a review into our paediatric orthopaedic service. The findings are being addressed at pace, and this work includes a group of independent experts reviewing all the patients of one surgeon and a project team addressing improvements to the whole service.
To all the patients and families impacted, we wish to say we are deeply sorry. We know that they will be extremely distressed by the care they received. This is not what they should expect from any service at our hospital.
From the beginning of the review, we have carefully considered how to share information with our patients. We continue to share the reviews of individual patients with families as they are completed.
The report by the Royal College of Surgeons, which has been referenced in the media, looks at the wider service and we would like to reassure families it does not contain any information about specific patients.
From Monday we will be writing to all patients and families who are part of this review, to ask if and how they want to receive a copy of the report.
We remain committed to being open and transparent with our families when care has fallen below the high standards we strive for.
We would encourage any patient or family member who has concerns about their care to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service who can assist you. They can be contacted on 0207 829 7862 or pals@gosh.nhs.uk”
SOURCE:
https://www.medicalaccidentgroup.co.uk/news/great-ormond-street-hospital-an-urgent-review/
https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/news/update-regarding-further-media-coverage
