Surgeon inquiry spends £1m before hearing evidence
More than £1m has been spent on a public inquiry into a disgraced brain surgeon that has not started hearing evidence yet, new figures show.
The inquiry into Sam Eljamel, who harmed dozens of patients and left some with life-changing injuries, was launched last month and has racked up £1.08m in costs so far.
Eljame was head of neurosurgery at Dundee's Ninewells Hospital until his suspension in December 2013. He resigned a year later and is now believed to be operating in Libya.
The inquiry outlay was revealed by Holyrood's finance committee which is investigating the cost-effectiveness of public inquiries in Scotland.
Public inquiry into brain surgeon Eljamel launched
New Scottish parliament research suggests the total cost of all public inquires launched over the last 18 years, in today's prices, has been £230m so far.
On 20 May, MSPs will begin their examination of what spending controls are in place to ensure the taxpayer is getting value for money from the statutory probes.
They will hear from Prof Sandy Cameron, who was a panel member on the inquiry into historic abuse of children in care in Jersey.
In his written submission, Prof Cameron said keeping on top of legal costs are a big challenge for all inquires.
He said: "It has to be recognised that inquiries are a source of substantial income for some large legal firms and as such the question arises as to the extent to which they are motivated to keep costs to a minimum and within budget".
The finance committee will also consider a written submission from the logistics and procurement support agency of the health service, NHS National Services Scotland (NSS).
In its submission, NHS NSS said the "current processes for monitoring public inquiry costs are inadequate" and revealed it has spent £3.1m in responding to public inquiries, as well as providing around £9m in legal services to other health boards for doing the same since 2021.
The health board suggest the introduction of mandatory interim recommendations in all public inquiries, as happens in the UK Covid inquiry, would help speed up improvements.
NHS NSS also suggest that an independent advisory body could be established to support Holyrood in deciding whether a public inquiry should be held, and the best way to go about it.
Alternatives to statutory inquires should also be considered, according to NHS NSS.
It points to New Zealand where a Royal Commission was established to look at the country's response to Covid.
This was chaired by an epidemiologist, with a former government minister and a treasury secretary as panel members, rather than a judge.
The New Zealand Covid inquiry, which has cost around £7m so far, started in 2022 and its terms of reference include a deadline of completing by February next year.
The Scottish Covid Inquiry has cost £34m so far and the UK Covid Inquiry is expected to top £200m.
Questions have been raised about the cost-effectiveness of the inquiries in recent years but the Scottish government, which picks up the bill for running them, said they provided important opportunities to establish facts and learn lessons.
All of the current public inquires have been supported in votes at Holyrood, as well as by families and campaigners.
The Eljamel Inquiry, headed by Lord Weir, launched its terms of reference last month and is expected to begin full hearings later this year.
The inquiry will determine whether patients were let down by failures in clinical governance, risk management, and complaints procedures, and to what extent Eljamel's private practice, research, and workload impacted on the care received by his patients within NHS Tayside.
Lord Weir said the independent inquiry would be "fair and thorough" and put patients "at the centre" of the process.
Most of the inquiry's costs to date have gone on staffing (£666,949) and legal services (£316,035).
Cost of public inquiries to be examined by MSPs
Scotland's public inquiries have cost nearly £200m
Sick Kids opening delayed by unclear NHS design - report
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New Covid Variant Causes Sore Throat That Feels Like 'Razor Blades'
A new variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 is circulating, and is believed to be more contagious than previous mutations The variant, NB.1.8.1, has been informally dubbed "Nimbus," and causes a severe sore throat that's been likened to "razor blades" This latest mutation has been called a "strong candidate for the summer surge" of Covid casesA new variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 has already caused a surge in cases in Asia — and its signature symptom is a severe sore throat that feels like 'razor blades.' Covid variant NB.1.8.1 — which has informally been dubbed 'Nimbus' — is being monitored by the World Health Organization as this latest mutation of the wildly contagious virus already makes up more than 10% of cases in Asia, Salon reports, adding that it's now been detected in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The variant has a high 'immune evasion, supporting its potential for future dominance,' according to a pre-print study that has not yet been peer-reviewed. This strain, Salon reports, causes 'razor blade throat,' or a severe sore throat; Other symptoms include traditional flu-like symptoms like congestion, fatigue, a mild cough, fever, and muscle aches, and more infrequently diarrhea and nausea, The Independent reports. Per that outlet, WHO says global risk is 'currently low, and existing Covid-19 vaccines are considered effective in preventing severe disease.' But as Dr. Rajendram Rajnarayanan, of the New York Institute of Technology, told Salon, 'NB.1.8.1 is a strong candidate for the summer surge.' 'I know that everybody wants to forget about this disease, but it's not going to allow us to,' Dr. Janko Nikolich, Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunobiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine said, according to ABC Action News. The news comes amid the Trump administration, under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., rolling back Covid vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women. Newborn babies are better protected against the virus if their mother receives the vaccine, Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement, per NPR. "The science has not changed," he said. "It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kennedy names new members of CDC vaccine advisory panel days after removing previous advisers
Just two days after retiring the entirety of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed several prominent critics of the government's Covid-19 response to that committee. He announced eight new members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, on Wednesday. Kennedy had said Monday that the previous 17-member panel that makes recommendations on who should get vaccines and when was rife with conflicts of interest and that he would appoint new 'highly credentialed' experts in time for the panel's June 25 meeting, at which the members are expected to discuss guidance for Covid-19 and HPV shots, among others. In a statement Wednesday, Kennedy said the reassembled panel will demand 'definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations, but will also review data for the current vaccine schedule as well.' The eight new ACIP members include Dr. Robert Malone, a biochemist who made early innovations in the field of messenger RNA but in more recent years has been a vocal critic of mRNA technology in Covid-19 vaccines. The CDC recently narrowed its recommendations for mRNA Covid-19 shots, but some advocates in the Make America Healthy Again space have pressed Kennedy to go further and bar the vaccines entirely. Another new member is Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who co-authored an October 2020 strategy on herd immunity known as the Great Barrington Declaration with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, now director of the US National Institutes of Health. Both Malone's and Kulldorff's names were circulated early in the second Trump administration as potential advisers on ACIP or other panels, according to a person familiar with the process who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with CNN. Kennedy also chose Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician he described as a 'strong advocate for evidence-based medicine' who has served on hospital committees and medical executive boards. Dr. Retsef Levi, an MIT professor who has published studies on mRNA vaccines and cardiovascular events, is also joining the panel. Levi is a professor of operations management. Several of the new members have served in federal health agencies previously, including Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a former acting chief of the NIH's section on nutritional neurosciences. Dr. Cody Meissner, a Dartmouth professor of pediatrics who also signed the Great Barrington Declaration, has previously served on ACIP and on the US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, the Pacific region director of the National Association of Catholic Nurses, also served on the FDA committee and on a national panel reviewing the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine. Dr. Michael Ross, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, has previously served on the CDC's Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer. Kennedy also nodded in his statement to Ross' 'continued service on biotech and healthcare boards.' The private equity company Havencrest, in which Ross is an operating partner, describes him on its site as a 'serial CEO' who has served on the boards of several biotechnology companies.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What to know about the new ‘Nimbus' COVID variant
The World Health Organization (WHO) is keeping an eye on a new COVID-19 variant called NB.1.8.1, or 'Nimbus,' that has spread across Europe, the Americas and the Western Pacific. Nimbus is a descendant of the Omicron variant of the virus and was first identified in late January. Its spike mutations appear to make it more transmissible than other COVID-19 variants, according to the WHO. Spike mutations refer to changes in spike proteins, which sit on the surface of the virus and help it enter healthy cells. While it is spreading in the U.S. and Canada, along with 20 other countries, it does not appear to be driving an increase in sickness or hospitalization. In April, NB.1.8.1 sequences made up 10.7 percent of all submitted sequences from confirmed COVID infections, up from 2.5 percent a month earlier, according to a risk evaluation released by the WHO. The WHO last month deemed NB.1.8.1 a variant 'under monitoring.' Here's what to know about the variant. Most cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. still stem from the LP.8.1 strain, another Omicron descendant. But it looks like NB.1.8.1 might soon replace it as the more common strain, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC estimates that 37 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. stem from the NB.1.8.1 variant, while 38 percent are a result from an infection of the LP.8.1 strain of the disease. At the end of May, the agency estimated the NB.1.8.1 variant caused about 15 percent of all COVID-19 cases. But the agency notes on its website that due to low numbers of virus sequences being reported, precision in the most recent reporting period is low. The NB.1.8.1 variant has been found in at least 13 states, according to Today, which cited data from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database. Those states are: California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Arizona, Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. The available data on 'Nimbus' suggests it poses a low global threat and that existing COVID-19 vaccines provide adequate protection against severe illness and hospitalization, according to the WHO. 'Currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease,' the WHO's risk evaluation reads. 'Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalizations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation.' Lionel Gresh, an international consultant at the WHO, told The Hill that many new cases in Canada are likely linked to the NB.1.8.1 variant, but that there has not been any major changes in the country in terms of cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions or deaths linked to COVID-19. Symptoms of NB.1.8.1 seem to be similar to those associated with other Omicron variants, according to Gresh. Some common COVID-19 symptoms include cough, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, congestion, headache, nausea, vomiting, and a new loss of smell or taste, according to the CDC. 'We should be as concerned about [NB.1.8.1] as we are concerned for COVID in general,' Gresh said. 'Not more, not less.' Some recent COVID-19 patients have reported experiencing something called 'razor blade throat,' according to Salon. But it is unclear if that symptom is connected to one of the COVID variants or another respiratory illness circulating, Ryan Gregory, an evolutionary and genome biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, told Salon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.