Rogue hospital surgeon harmed nearly 100 as children left disabled and ‘scarred for all times’

Some 94 patients suffered harm at the hands of a Great Ormond Street orthopaedic surgeon, a report has concluded. Yaser Jabbar treated hundreds of children from 2017 to 2022 at the London children’s hospital, with independent experts saying in a new review that his surgery fell well below the level expected in several areas.

Many patients came to harm or were left in pain, with some going on to need further surgery with the hospital saying it was “profoundly sorry”. The report into Jabbar stated: “There were instances of premature removal of fixation devices, the combination of procedures without clear rationale, inadequate counselling on fracture risk, and an over-reliance on junior staff.

“There were some serious problems found, including poor planning before surgery, not making the area stable enough, unclear or incomplete notes, and putting implants in the wrong place. Other issues were making cuts in the bone at the wrong level or using the wrong method, making decisions that didn’t match what was seen in the scans during surgery, problems with how frames and pins were used, and not involving the wider team when dealing with infections.”

Analysis of independent expert case reports into the surgeon’s practice “identified that Mr Jabbar was highly inconsistent in his approach to clinical care with recurrent deficiencies in documentation, assessment, and surgical decision-making”, the report said.

Assessors carried out clinical case reviews for all 789 of Mr Jabbar’s patients and found a total of 94 patients came to harm under his care. Of these, he operated on 91.

Of the 94 children directly harmed by Mr Jabbar, 36 suffered severe harm while under the care of the surgeon, who worked on lower limb reconstruction. A further 39 patients came to moderate harm and 19 patients came to mild harm.

The study also reported that 642 patients did not come to harm that could be attributable to the surgeon. Mr Jabbar is understood to live abroad and no longer has a licence to practise medicine in the UK.

Matthew Shaw, chief executive of Gosh said in a statement: “We are profoundly sorry to all the patients and their families who have been affected by the care provided by Mr Jabbar. The report we have published today sets out in full what happened, what we found in our review of patients, what we have learnt and what we have done as a consequence.

“We have made significant changes to both the orthopaedic service itself and across the hospital to minimise the chance of something like this happening again. Many of these changes are designed to help spot potential issues before they become a risk to patient care.

“We know this comes too late for the families affected by this issue, but we are committed to ensuring our hospital is a better and safer place for all current and future patients.”

Great Ormond Street commissioned a Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) review in September 2022 following complaints about Mr Jabbar. The surgeon went on a planned unpaid sabbatical in October 2022 and officially resigned the following year.

The RCS concluded its findings in October 2023 and Gosh wrote to patients the following February. The RCS report described how the Gosh department was seen by some staff as “toxic” and some consultants “kept themselves to themselves”.
Gosh further commissioned a review of all 789 patients cared for by Mr Jabbar.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.