Investigation into surgeon widened to include more hospitals

A probe examining concerns about an orthopaedic surgeon has been widened to include four more hospitals, officials have said.

Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) recently launched a review of the care of 721 children treated by consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar.

Now it has emerged that the investigation has been widened to include four more London-based hospitals where Mr Jabbar worked.

These include three private hospitals – The Portland Hospital; Cromwell Hospital; and St John and St Elizabeth Hospital London – and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

On its website, Gosh said: “We are aware that some Gosh patients have also been treated by this surgeon at other hospitals in the UK.

“As we conduct the review, we want to be sure that we are looking at all the care that was provided by the surgeon. To do this we are working with the other four hospitals we know this surgeon worked at.”

Gosh said that it will hold a register of “all patients treated by this surgeon across these hospitals in the UK”.

The hospital commissioned an external review of its paediatric orthopaedic service in 2022 “after concerns were raised by a number of our patient families and staff”.

It said that the review, conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), “raised concerns regarding the medical practice of an orthopaedic surgeon”.

In light of the findings, Gosh said that it would commission a review of the care given to all patients seen by the surgeon.

Of the first 37 cases reviewed by independent experts from other UK hospitals, 22 children were found to have come to some degree of harm, including 13 deemed to have come to “severe harm”.

Solicitor Caroline Murgatroyd, of Hudgell Solicitors, who is representing families treated by Mr Jabbar, said: “Obviously, we want to see each and every case investigated fully, with all treatment taken into consideration, so we welcome the Gosh investigation being widened to cover these four other hospitals where it is known children were seen and treated by Mr Jabbar.

“Sadly, at Great Ormond Street, in many of the cases we have seen so far, there has been a lack of documentation available with regards to Mr Jabbar’s decision-making process when treating patients, and his consultation with other colleagues and parents, which has raised concerns over the governance and management of the department as a whole.

“It will be interesting to see how Mr Jabbar was managed when working in other hospitals and whether any concerns were raised at any of these locations when he was treating children.

“We need full transparency with regards to what happened at every hospital he worked at, and every treatment on every patient.”

Earlier this week, Gosh sent out redacted copies of the RCS report to families involved in the review who requested to see it.

Mr Jabbar, who lives in Dubai and no longer works at the London hospital, is reported to be an expert in limb reconstruction but has not had a licence to practise medicine in the UK since January 8, according to the General Medical Council’s website.

A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital said: “Following concerns raised by our staff and families, we asked the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) to review our paediatric orthopaedic service.

“As part of their review, the Royal College of Surgeons raised concerns around the practice of a surgeon who no longer works at the trust.

“We are in contact with all our patients who were under the care of the surgeon and a group of independent experts from other paediatric hospitals are reviewing their individual care.

“We are aware that the surgeon saw some patients at other centres in the UK and we are working with these hospitals as they look to review the care provided to their patients.”

A spokesperson for HCA Healthcare UK, which runs The Portland Hospital, said: “Mr Jabbar was suspended from practising with us in June 2022 for failure to attend a booked clinic.

“There were no clinical concerns raised at this time about his clinical practice with us, but following the concerns raised at Great Ormond Street Hospital we are conducting our own clinical review.

“We are contacting all patients who had surgery with Mr Jabbar at HCA UK who will be part of this review and will be offering clinical consultations with an orthopaedic specialist as part of this.

“We understand that this must be a concerning time for his patients and their families, and ensuring we do the most comprehensive review into his practice with us is our priority.”

A spokesperson from St John and St Elizabeth Hospital confirmed that Mr Jabbar had practising privileges at the hospital between October 2020 and January 2023.

The spokesperson said three adult inpatient procedures were conducted at the hospital during this period and “no concerns were raised about Mr Jabbar’s practice”.

The spokesperson said that the hospital is working with Great Ormond Street Hospital “to assist them in their review”.