Medical Negligence Investigation at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Jodi Newton

Great Ormond Street Probe Underway Following a String of “Inappropriate and Unnecessary” Child Orthopaedic Surgeries

An urgent review involving 721 children is underway after concerns were raised about a former surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

The review is being carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS). It centres on the work of Yaser Jabbar, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and limb reconstruction specialist who worked at the hospital between 2017 and 2022.

The full report has not yet been released but the information that has come out paints a worrying picture. Of the 39 cases looked at so far, 22 have been flagged as having serious issues. Thirteen children have been identified as suffering “severe harm” with life-long injuries following orthopaedic operations. Some children were left with one leg up to 20 cm shorter than the other, and one child had a limb amputated — outcomes that apparently could have been avoided with alternative treatment.

The hospital has offered its “sincere apologies” to those affected. The review is expected to last 18 months and will be undertaken by five external paediatric orthopaedic surgical consultants.

The Royal College of Surgeons stated that Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Orthopaedic department was “dysfunctional”, and that consultants acted in “outdated”, “hierarchical” and “unacceptable” ways, as reported by the Sunday Times. Parents were “terrified” by Mr Jabbar and a few requested other surgeons to treat their children. These comments reveal that the department needed change, and the parents were intimidated by Mr Jabber.

Sadly these comments echo those made at the maternity unit at Basildon Hospital, where a client of Stephanie Prior, who is head of medical negligence at Osbornes Law, lost his wife post delivery of their child. It was noted at the inquest into the mother’s death, that there was toxicity between the senior medical staff and the junior medical staff, there was lack of support or guidance for junior staff and the midwives did not work in harmony with the medical team. This led to a dysfunctional maternity unit and a poor standard of care for patients, which in turn led to injuries to mothers and babies and many deaths in the unit. Stephanie comments:

“It is quite obvious that if a hospital department is led by example and medical and nursing staff work well together as a team, providing a safe environment for good care, then there is less chance of mistakes being made and absolute devastation for families due to poor medical care. Concerningly there seems to be a trend across multiple hospitals and trusts where there exists a fear of speaking up or against senior medical staff, which only leads to harm to patients and demoralise other staff”.

Is There Basis for a Clinical Negligence Claim?

Parents of some of the children affected by Mr Jabbar’s actions have begun legal action against the NHS.

The success of any type of medical negligence claim will depend on whether it can be proven that the doctor, surgeon or other medical professional, in this case Mr Jabbar, acted negligently and that his actions directly caused harm to the children or worsened their existing illness or injury.

The hospital itself may also have contributed to any negligence if it can be proven that managers failed in their duty to properly supervise and monitor work, or if there were systemic failures within the hospital that contributed to the harm caused.

Medical practitioners owe a duty of care to their patients to provide them with the standard of care that a reasonably competent practitioner in the same field would provide. They do not have to provide “perfect” care, or even care that is satisfactory to the patient. But they are expected to follow protocols and best practices as a competent, skilled professional.

A claim will succeed if, on a balance of probabilities, the care received fell below acceptable standards and the patient suffered harm as a result.

What Evidence is Needed to Prove a Child Surgical Negligence Claim?

To prove a claim like this, it is necessary to make detailed investigations into the child’s medical history and the care they received. Medical records will be consulted, and the child’s parents will need to give witness evidence.

Orthopaedic claims can be very complicated, especially when they involve children. Solicitors almost certainly will commission expert evidence to determine whether other paediatric orthopaedic surgeons would have acted the same way in a similar situation.

In this case, an expert review is already underway. GOSH first asked RCS to investigate the performance of its wider paediatric orthopaedic department in 2022, after becoming aware of concerns from families and staff.

According to media reports, RCS found that the department was “dysfunctional”, that the trust was run “like a political organisation”, and that consultants behaved in ways that were “outdated”, “unacceptable” and “hierarchical.” Concerns about the treatment provided by Dr Jabbar apparently include:

• Poor clinical examinations and decision-making.
• Failures to obtain consent for treatment.
• Failures to warn parents of possible complications which may arise.
• Performing incorrect and unsuitable surgeries that had no clinical justification.
• This is the type of evidence that will need to be considered in any clinical negligence claim.

NHS Complaints Procedure

GOSH is also facing questions about its handling of the situation. Some parents have said the hospital was slow to act on their concerns, although GOSH has denied those claims.

Where care is provided by an NHS practitioner, the legal claim is brought against the relevant NHS trust rather than the practitioner personally. The first port of call is the NHS’s official complaints procedure. Anyone who has received substandard services from the NHS can make a complaint, and parents can make a complaint on behalf of a child under the age of 18.

Complaints should be made within 12 months of the event.

The NHS has a duty to investigate complaints and report their findings. Here, GOSH responded by launching a major review of its department, which was exactly the right thing to do. Not every complaint will result in a major independent investigation—this case is unusual in its scale. However, even smaller investigations are helpful for shining a light on possible negligence which patients can use to support their clinical negligence claims.

No financial compensation is available through this NHS complaints procedure. To claim compensation, you must contact a clinical negligence solicitor and ask them to start a claim through the courts.

What to Do If Your Child is Affected By Medical Negligence

If you believe that your child has suffered harm as a result of medical treatment, whether from GOSH or the actions of any other trusted NHS practitioner, get in touch and see how we are able to help.

The deadline for pursuing child medical negligence claims is the date of the child’s 21st birthday. It is unwise to wait that long, however, since claims are stronger when evidence is fresh and more easily obtained.

Claim values can be very high. Serious injuries may demand lifelong care, home modifications and mobility aids, and parents may lose significant income if they are forced to stay at home to care for an injured child. Compensation can help alleviate some of the financial burden that comes with caring for an injured child and some level of closure regarding their child’s injuries.

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