In December 2021, a judge ruled that the NHS Tayside surgeon, Sam Eljamel, was solely liable for a £2.8 million payout to patients including, I assume, the above woman, ‘who is in constant pain‘ (see below). He had tried to have NHS Tayside share the cost. The judge was having none of it.
If the health board was then deemed not responsible in any way, the Health Secretary was equally not responsible.
Despite that, Scotland’s media and the opposition parties continue to feed on the narrative that the new First Minister should do something, including hold a public inquiry.
In the only incident in the recent history of NHS Scotland, one powerful psychopathic man abused a relatively small number of patients (3?), his colleagues were afraid of him so did not report him, and the patients were awarded compensation. The judge ruled that he was entirely and solely responsible. By definition there were no lessons to be learned by the board or the Scottish Government though his colleagues must surely have learned something.
The public inquiry would simply be a vehicle for the opposition to further imply failure in the SNP and an opportunity for the patients to demand further compensation from the Scottish Government.
For context, in October 2022, The Mirror reported a 60% increase in ‘NHS blunders’ to 14 000 cases while, in Scotland, in December of the same year, the Scotsman claimed that compensation payouts had quadrupled, from 10 to 35 overall. I appreciate that these are not directly comparable data.
Also for context:
Referrals to a chronic pain clinic are now back to levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the quarter ending 31 March 2023, 5,049 patients were referred, an increase of 5.5% on the previous quarter, when 4,787 patients were referred. Referrals are up by 4.3% compared to a year earlier, when there were 4,839 during the quarter ending 31 March 2022. There were 2,185 patients seen at a consultant-led chronic pain clinic during the quarter ending 31 March 2023, compared to 1,890 in the previous quarter, an increase of 15.6%. Of these, 63.3% waited 12 weeks or less, 10.1% waited between 13 and 24 weeks, 18.2% waited between 25 and 51 weeks and 8.4% waited 52 weeks or more.
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/chronic-pain-waiting-times/chronic-pain-waiting-times-quarter-ending-31-march-2023/
Chronic pain waiting time performance improves despite increased referrals?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-blunders-rise-60-five-28131195
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
He left in 2014. He operated under unionist regime. He left under SNP administration. The patients should get compensation. An Inquiry would cost more than compensation,
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The sole purpose of this report and the one about problems with hospitals in Scotland was to distract from Consultants strikes innNHS England and from expected Tory losses in by-elections (or am I too cynical?)
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Only a matter of time before The BBC blames the SNP Government for The Black Plague , the Fall of the Roman Empire and the extinction of the dinosaurs !
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When anything goes wrong in the English NHS as we all know, there are no calls for English politicians and/or their PM to resign, or even take responsibility, and unlikely to ever have to answer questions in parliament about such matters.
EngGov are determined to bring Humza Yousaf down as they did Nicola Sturgeon, there’s a GE to plan and plot for, it’s going to be choppy seas time watch out!
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English NHS (not true NHS any longer) purposely send butchers to us to harm our vulnerable. Truth!
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