Mother of girl operated on by disgraced surgeon says hospital ‘gaslit’ her | Global News Avenue

A little girl’s mother said she should not have been left in his care after a disgraced surgeon performed an operation at a prominent London children’s hospital.

Jodee Seeley told BBC Newsnight she was considering legal action after Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) allowed Yaser Jabbar to undergo surgery on her daughter Alana surgery, she accused the hospital of “gaslighting” despite complaints of inappropriate behavior.

Abdul-Jabbar left the hospital in 2023 after an investigation by the Royal College of Surgeons found that he had performed “incorrect” or “inappropriate” surgeries in several cases.

A GOSH spokesman said they understood “why Alana and her family are concerned”, adding “we are sorry they feel information has been withheld”.

Mr Jabbar performed surgery on Jodee’s eight-year-old daughter in 2022 to install metal plates in her knees to lengthen and straighten the legs.

He is one of the top surgeons at the prestigious hospital, operating on children with complex medical conditions and performing surgeries like Alana’s.

The hospital has since conducted independent reports on each of the 723 patients to determine the extent of the injuries they suffered.

Some of the cases involving him resulted in injuries, including lifelong injuries and amputations.

Jodee, from Essex, told BBC Newsnight she had no idea about the doctor’s reputation when her daughter Alana was referred to his care in 2021 known.

By then, concerns had been raised about Mr. Jabbar.

She said Mr Jabbar recommended invasive surgery during his first consultation in March 2021, which lasted “approximately five minutes”.

“We didn’t want to rock the boat too much because he seemed to know what he was doing,” she said.

“So we went with it and thought he was a plastic surgeon and this was Great Ormond Street (Hospital). We trusted him.”

The surgery took place 10 months later, in January 2022. During this time, other surgeons made additional professional complaints to hospital administrators.

None of this was disclosed to Jodi or other family members of Mr. Jabbar’s patients.

She said the surgery seemed to go well and Alana’s leg was bandaged and there didn’t seem to be any immediate issues.

But when the bandages came off weeks later, Jody saw not one but two scars on the inside of her child’s leg, which they had been told was just a cut.

“So the alarm bells started ringing at that moment,” she said.

As the weeks passed, Alana, now 11, had no improvement in her mobility and reported frequent pain, often requiring painkillers.

Jody said she initially thought, “Well, maybe it just didn’t work? Maybe it wasn’t the right procedure and it was removed? Or maybe it’s too early to tell?”

She said she expected regular check-ups at the hospital, but no follow-up appointments were made until six months after the surgery.

The metal plate in Alana’s knee should remain in place for about two years. Jody said they met with another surgeon at the hospital in July, six months after the surgery, and he advised them not to come out.

Then, by chance, they met Mr. Jabbar on the same visit.

Jody said he took one look and said they “need to get out immediately” and asked the family to come back the next day for another major surgery.

Jody said he told his family he was worried Alana’s tendon might re-fuse to the metal plate.

“We’re really panicking, we’re really worried… (thinking) ‘What have we done, is she OK, is this long-term damage?'”

They returned to the hospital in August 2022 to remove the plate.

But the family was now so concerned that they moved Alana to another hospital a few months later.

During this time, she continued to lose mobility and develop other problems.

Jodi said she was not informed of any problems with Mr. Jabbar’s job until February this year, more than 16 months later.

She said the hospital notified her in a brief letter with few details.

“It seemed like a normal letter… nothing to worry about,” she said.

She did not realize the extent of Mr. Jabbar’s misconduct until it was reported in the media.

“I didn’t realize the scale of it or what was actually happening or that there were so many complaints,” she added.

She noted that what was most “troubling” was that the hospital made its comments to the media without even notifying patients and their families.

“Honestly, I just felt sick,” she said. “Obviously frustrated. As a parent, obviously you want to protect your child, that’s the No. 1 priority. As soon as we saw him, I knew something was wrong.”

Jody said her daughter should never have been under the surgeon’s care and accused the hospital of a culture of collusion and a wider cover-up.

She told the BBC she received word from the hospital immediately before speaking to reporters.

She said it could be a coincidence or “they were forced to do it because they knew I was coming to talk to you today”.

“It does feel like they’re being guided by gaslighting along the way,” she added.

Jody said she and her family are very private, but she felt the need to speak out so other victims know they “are not alone.”

“It’s really important for other people to understand what’s going on and understand if they’re affected as well, to understand that they’re not alone and that this is what’s going on,” she said.

A spokesman for GOSH said it apologized to all the families involved, adding that external experts had been asked to examine all of Mr Jabbar’s patients following the Royal College of Surgeons’ report.

The statement continued: “They are working as planned (…) We understand why Alana and her family are concerned (…) and we have been in contact with them.

“We are sorry they felt information was withheld. Once concerns were raised about the Surgeon General’s practice in June 2022, we shared the information with the General Medical Council and conducted a rapid fact-finding investigation. During this time, the Surgeon General The doctor’s practice is limited to simple surgical procedures (…) and always as part of the wider surgical team.

“We then have to establish the facts before sharing the information with patients.

“We are now regularly updating patients on the progress of the review.

“We are aware that there were concerns regarding specific patients in 2021, which were raised as formal incidents and fully investigated. Neither the findings in each individual case nor the overall findings triggered a threshold for further action at that time.”

Criticism of GOSH’s actions following Mr Jabbar’s departure continued.

This year, the hospital conducted independent reports on each of the 723 patients to determine the extent of the injuries they suffered.

But families who have received results in recent weeks Calling these comments false statements, even one “Whitewashing” What their children have been through.

Parents told the BBC how hospitals had “failed their children” and left them with physical and mental harm.

The BBC has spoken to at least four families, and has had indirect contact with 12 others, who say the reports do not reflect their children’s experiences and do not alleviate their pain and suffering.

These reviews are carried out by specialist doctors who do not work at GOSH, based on patient records provided by the hospital.

Many reports are also made without interviews with patients or their families.