Yaser Jabbar: Lawyer's concern at recall of more than 700 paediatric patients of orthopaedic surgeon who worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital
I've read various articles about the recall of patients operated on by Yaser Jabbar in disbelief.
Mr Jabbar worked as a lower limb orthopaedic surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London treating children. The hospital is overseeing an urgent review of more than 700 patients treated by Mr Jabbar from 2017 until he left the hospital in September 2023 after an 11-month sabbatical.
Review finds children suffered harm
Of the children already reviewed, The Sunday Times - which broke the story - said that of the 37 cases reviewed already, 22 children had been found to have come to some degree of harm, 13 of them classed as “severe harm”.
A total of 456 patients’ treatment are also being reviewed by a senior nurse and paediatrician. These have not been categorised as needing urgent attention.
Medical negligence lawyer supports patients
I work as a group actions solicitor specialising in clinical negligence claims involving named surgeons.
Each time a new group action is identified, a key consideration alongside supporting families to obtain justice and compensation is detecting whether had earlier intervention occurred, could these circumstances have been avoided?
It's concerning that Great Ormond Street Hospital asked the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) to review the whole paediatric orthopaedic service in 2022, after becoming aware of concerns from families and staff.
RCS identified wider and more systemic cultural issues that needed to be dealt with immediately. RCS described the department in the leaked report reported by Shaun Lintern at The Sunday Times as “dysfunctional”.
It labelled the NHS trust as being run like a “political organisation” and consultants behaving in “outdated, unacceptable and hierarchical” ways. In recent years, patient safety was repeatedly put at risk by “eye-rolling” consultants who belittled junior colleagues.
Mr Jabbar patient review
It was the RCS who raised concerns about Mr Jabbar, prompting the hospital to initiate the patient review process that commenced in April 2024.
Great Ormond Street said that it has contacted all the patients and their families who are part of the review. The recall of the patients is expected to take at least 18 months. Five external paediatric orthopaedic surgeons are involved in the review.
What Great Ormond Street Hospital says
A Great Ormond Street Hospital spokesperson said the hospital was committed to "learning from every single patient that we treat, and to being open and transparent with our families when care falls below the high standards we strive for. We have contacted all patients and families who have been impacted and where harm has been identified, discussed their cases with them under our duty of candour. To all of them, we wish to convey our sincere apologies."
General Medical Council places condition on Mr Jabbar's licence to practise
The General Medical Council placed conditions on Mr Jabbar’s licence to practise medicine in this country from 4 January, 2024. Part of the conditions are that he must be supervised in all his posts by a clinical supervisor.
He doesn't currently have a licence to practise medicine in this country. It's understood from the press coverage that Mr Jabbar is now working in Dubai.
Conclusion: Patients need to be fully supported
While the recall of patients is welcome, those with concerns about their care need to be fully supported at this distressing time not only so they can receive the answers they deserve, but where appropriate, access to the ongoing specialist support and follow up treatment including rehabilitation they may require.
Find out more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in supporting the patients of surgeons whose cases are being reviewed at our dedicated group medical negligence claims section.
A number of specialist charities can also support patients and families including Steel Bones.
