Scottish nurse says her ‘life was ruined’ after phantom operation performed by disgraced surgeon

A phantom operation carried out by a disgraced surgeon[1] has left a Scottish nurse's life in tatters. Pam Woodfield, 47, is calling on the Scottish Government[2] to ensure a public inquiry into surgeon Sam Eljamel, who was the head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. She suffered headaches for years after being born with hydrocephalus (water on the brain), reports the Daily Record[3].

In 2010, Eljamel operated to install a device[4] that would prevent fluid coming through too quickly. It was a decade later before she found the device had ever been installed at all.

She said: "It's ripped my world apart.

All my whole life I wanted to be a nurse and to have to give it up is horrendous. "They can't repair it because of the shunt as the mesh would cement my whole diaphragm and the bottom end of the shunt goes into my stomach so if I needed another shunt it would be impossible. I have to live with it now.

"It's embarrassing both physically and emotionally, it sticks out like a sore thumb and I have lost a lot of weight so you see it. It pops out and it's painful so I have to wear a belt around me which isn't that comfortable." Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here[7] and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.

After the operation her headaches continued. She said: "I went back and was told it could sometimes take six months to a year to work. "I thought that didn't sound right at all but I carried on taking morphine."

It wasn't until 2020 that she discovered the anti siphoning device had never been installed. That year she was seen by her new neurosurgeon who asked her what one of the scars on her tummy was for. Pam said: "I told her it was for the anti-siphoning device.

"She looked on the scans, she showed me the scans, and it doesn't exist.

During that operation Mr Eljamel caused an incisional hernia in my tummy so whether he caused that and then closed me up without putting the anti siphoning device in I do not know but I've got pictures and wounds which look like I had been battered. "The truth is he thought he was God. Looking back it disgusts me, it really does."

By 2012 Pam had to give up her job because her headaches were so severe and she suffered depression as a result. She said: "It's ripped my world apart. "All my whole life I wanted to be a nurse and to have to give it up is horrendous. "I was 36 when I had to give it up and I haven't worked since.

It is not good at all. My life is in tatters. "We need answers.

He shouldn't have been employed. We need to know what went on and why he was allowed to carry on.

Sign up for Edinburgh Live's newsletter

Get all the latest news and headlines from Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians sent straight to your inbox twice a day by signing up to our free newsletter. From breaking news[8] to the latest on the coronavirus[9] crisis in Scotland, we'll have you covered.

The morning newsletter arrives every day before 9am and the evening newsletter, manually curated by the team, is sent at 6.30pm, giving you a round up of the most important stories of the day. To sign up to any of our newsletters, visit this link here[10]. Pam is now pinning her hopes on the public inquiry to get answers.

She said: "It cannot be allowed to drag on. I don't want anybody to pass away without getting justice." Labour's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie commented: "As more known cases emerge it is clearly important for all those affected that an inquiry is held without further delay.

"Lessons need to be learned by NHS Tayside and the people affected need answers."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the process to appoint a chair for the public inquiry is "ongoing".

References

1. ^ surgeon (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
2. ^ Scottish Government (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
3. ^ Daily Record (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
4. ^ device (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
5. ^ Edinburgh motorcyclist hospitalised in terrifying crash as police hunter driver (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
6. ^ Abandoned XL Bully handed to East Lothian kennels after being found 'tied to a lamppost' (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
7. ^ Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here (chat.whatsapp.com)
8. ^ breaking news (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
9. ^ coronavirus (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
10. ^ here (data.reachplc.com)