Eljamel patient Jules Rose says NHS Tayside tried to 'silence' her

A mother who endured a botched surgery at the hands of a disgraced neurosurgeon claims NHS Tayside tried to silence her against making complaints.

Professor Sam Eljamel removed Jules Rose's tear duct during a failed attempt to operate on a brain tumour - setting the 55-year-old on a path to becoming a prolific campaigner for patients' rights.

Ms Rose, however, has received sight of documents that show NHS Tayside writing to the then-health minister Humza Yousaf to say she had been "aggressive" and "vulgar" and they would no longer communicate with her.

In a letter in response, Mr Yousaf says he sees no evidence of any such conduct by the mother-of-two and tells the health board to enter into mediation with her.

Ms Rose said: "In the letter I have been given, Humza Yousaf writes back and say, 'She's quite right to feel aggrieved at the treatment she's received.

"'Therefore, I suggest that you continue liaising with Miss Rose and enter into mediation.'

"This was last November but I've only just had copies of the letters sent to me and when I saw them I thought, 'They've tried to shut me down, they're tried to silence me'."

The ongoing dispute with NHS Tayside is as a result of Ms Rose's long-running campaign for justice for patients - thought to be as many as 270 - harmed by Eljamel while he was in the health board's employ.

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Source: The Herald, 16 December 2023