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EXCLUSIVE: Jason Leitch receiving updates on Eljamel patient reviews despite NHS Tayside employment

Eljamel campaigner Jules Rose says the latest revelations show there is a “glaringly obvious conflict of interest”.

Former National clinical director Jason Leitch. Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Former National clinical director Jason Leitch. Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Under-fire Jason Leitch is receiving updates on the upcoming review into all patients of disgraced NHS Tayside surgeon Sam Eljamel despite being employed by the health board.

New SNP health chief Neil Gray admits the national clinical director – who has faced resignation calls over his role in the Covid Inquiry WhatsApp controversy – is being briefed on work to set up investigations into the Ejamel scandal.

The revelations, which will spark more concerns over Mr Leitch’s involvement in the process, come just weeks after the Scottish Government insisted he had no role at all.

Campaigner Jules Rose, one of hundreds harmed by the rogue Dundee doctor, says there is a “glaringly obvious conflict of interest” in the civil servant being kept in the loop given he is an NHS Tayside employee on secondment to his senior health official role.

Lead Eljamel campaigner Jules Rose. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

The Kinross mum told The Courier: “This is a complete and utter farce.

“NHS Tayside must be investigated at the public inquiry, and cannot be involved in any way with the individual clinical reviews.

“There is a glaringly obvious conflict of interest for Jason Leitch, who remains – to this day – an employee of NHS Tayside.

“He must be removed immediately.”

Former NHS Tayside surgeon Eljamel repeatedly botched operations on patients while he was employed by the local authority between 1995 and 2013.

A public inquiry, taking place alongside individual clinical reviews, will probe health chiefs’ failure to act sooner and scrutinise the timeline of events before his eventual suspension.

Disgraced surgeon Sam Eljamel
Former NHS Tayside neurosurgeon Sam Eljamel. Image: DC Thomson

A damning NHS Tayside internal report last year found the health board were aware about concerns surrounding the surgeon in 2011, two years before his suspension.

Last month Eljamel victims told The Courier of their concerns over Mr Leitch’s role in helping to oversee the two probes.

Their intervention came after they learned of his involvement through a conversation with former health chief Michael Matheson on the day the public inquiry was announced.

The government sought to downplay his role before claiming he was completely detached from the process.

Calls for Leitch to step back from Eljamel matters then intensified when it emerged he has been an employee of the health board for 11 years, on secondment to the Scottish Government.

Officials insisted the arrangement was not at all unusual and told us Mr Leitch had not been doing any work for the health board.

But the mystery deepened when The Courier uncovered board meeting minutes from 2012 suggesting he had a senior role in the local authority.

New SNP health secretary Neil Gray. Image: PA.

In a letter to Tory MSP Liz Smith, new health chief Mr Gray claimed Mr Leitch had “not been involved operationally” in work relating to the Eljamel scandal.

He insisted Professor Craig White, the government’s associate director for health, was the key figure tasked with making appointments.

The letter reads: “Professor Craig White was in effect given delegated authority to lead operationally day-to-day, and to prioritise the necessary actions to progress arrangements for the establishment of the independent clinical review process with the urgency and focus required, ensuring that Directors (including Professor Leitch) received updates on progress as part of day-to-day reporting on directorate business.”

But Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Ms Smith, who campaigned for a public inquiry alongside the Eljamel patients, said: “After repeated parliamentary questions about the role of Jason Leitch there has been no clarity forthcoming.

“That still leaves many questions unanswered.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As the cabinet secretary has made clear in his letter, Professor Leitch is not involved operationally in work under way to establish both the independent clinical review and public inquiry.”

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