Nearly 100 children were harmed by a disgraced Great Ormond Street doctor who conducted a series of botched operations, a review has found.
Some 94 patients suffered harm after being treated by Great Ormond Street Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar, including 36 who suffered severe harm, a report published by the hospital has concluded.
Jabbar was employed at the hospital for five years, starting in 2017, and provided care to 789 children during his tenure.
During that time, some 36 children 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.
Jabbar currently lives abroad and no longer has a licence to practise medicine in the UK.
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Families of the victims have previously claimed reports about the care their children received did not reflect what truly happened – with some parents blaming a “culture of cover-up”.
GOSH was accused of “failing their children”, while others claimed the fact that the reports were carried out by independent surgeons who did not work at the hospital led to more questions than answers.
one worker at the trust slammed the hospital’s response to the scandal, arguing management had avoided taking responsibility rather than addressing alleged “systemic failures in how staff concerns were handled”.
“They have focused everything on the department and one rogue surgeon,” they told the Sunday Times.
They added: “But it was their failure to respond to concerns. Even when the RCS report came out, what they chose to do was persecute the consultants that were still there … The RCS report criticised both the executive team and senior management. I’ve seen no change in that. Those people are still in post.”
Jabbar was previously viewed as an expert in limb reconstruction.
Lawyers representing families of the children said the cases of harm included botched surgeries, leg length discrepancies, nerve injuries and one amputation.
Caroline Murgatroyd, of Hudgell Solicitors, said: “We have had a significant number of families come forward to seek advice and to share their concerns since the scale of this investigation was made public at the weekend.
“What’s particularly shocking is the sheer number of children affected, and the fact that this is a world-renowned hospital, and one which people had complete faith and trust in.”
Jabbar worked at the NHS-run Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Trust treating adults and children before moving to GOSH.
He also worked in private hospitals – St John and St Elizabeth Hospital – where he carried out three inpatient procedures on adults, with no evidence of harm.
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.”
By Henry Moore
