A leading NHS children’s hospital is reviewing the care 721 patients received after an investigation found that children treated by one of its surgeons came to “severe harm” during limb reconstruction operations.
Great Ormond Street hospital in London has offered its “sincere apologies” to children who have suffered what the Sunday Times reported was in some cases lifelong damage.
Some of the children were left with one leg up to 20cm shorter than the other, the paper reported, while others are still in chronic pain years after their treatment, and one had a limb amputated – an outcome that experts said later could have been avoided.
An external review of the care of 39 of the 721 patients has found that 13 came to “severe harm”, another nine suffered “low/moderate harm”, while two cases have been referred for peer review, and the other 15 experienced no harm.
The children are reported to have been treated by Yaser Jabbar, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. Mr Jabbar’s behaviour became a concern after the hospital asked the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) in 2022 to investigate the performance of its paediatric surgery department and patient outcomes, after staff and families voiced concerns about the quality of care it provided.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street hospital 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.”
One of the 13 children who suffered “severe harm” was just four months old, the Sunday Times reported.
The hospital is facing questions about its handling of the concerns about Mr Jabbar after some parents said it was slow to act and unresponsive when they complained.
The father of one child told the paper that he believed that “everything was being brushed under the carpet” by the hospital when he first aired his concerns. “We tried to raise our concerns repeatedly through the official complaints procedure, and I copied the clinical director into many emails, but heard nothing back,” the unnamed parent said.
The hospital rejected the claims. It said senior management decided to ask the RCS to undertake an in-depth review 18 working days after becoming aware of staff and families’ concerns.
In April, the hospital instigated an “orthopaedic service review improvement programme”. It is overseeing the ongoing work to review Mr Jabbar’s patients “and wider service improvement work”.
The RCS found that the hospital’s orthopaedic surgery department was “dysfunctional”, that the trust was run “like a political organisation”, and that consultants behaved in ways that were “outdated”, “unacceptable” and “hierarchical”, the Sunday Times reported. Parents were left “terrified” by Mr Jabbar and some asked for other surgeons to treat their children instead.
The hospital’s statement promised quick remedial action, and added: “We will ensure that all the findings of this review are addressed at pace and we will reflect on any wider learnings around our culture.”
Parents of some of the children affected have begun legal action against Great Ormond Street hospital. Caroline Murgatroyd of Hudgell Solicitors, who is representing them, said “serious failures in care to many patients, over a number of years” had occurred.
Mr Jabbar, who is believed to be working in Dubai, did not respond to the paper’s request to comment. For 11 months before he moved abroad, Mr Jabbar did not work at the trust, but was still on full pay, the paper added. – The Guardian