Eljamel inquiry unable to compel rogue surgeon's evidence as NHS Tayside apologises

Credit: PA Wire/Andrew Milligan

By Nick Forbes and Rachel Keenan, PA Scotland, and Claudia Tanner

NHS Tayside has issued a formal apology to patients harmed by disgraced neurosurgeon Sam Eljamel, acknowledging it added to their trauma through poor handling of complaints, as a public inquiry revealed it cannot compel the absconded surgeon to give evidence.

The inquiry into Eljamel's practice has attempted to locate the former head of neurosurgery at hospitals in Libya where he is believed to be working, but has received no response to multiple approaches, counsel Jamie Dawson KC told a preliminary hearing in Edinburgh on Wednesday.