The Dundee DJ who raised the alarm over disgraced neurosurgeon Sam Eljamel will not take part in the public inquiry into the scandal.
Pat Kelly – harmed by the rogue NHS Tayside doctor in 2007 – claims key institutions central to the fiasco will not be interrogated.
It comes after Eljamel victims were sent revised terms of reference outlining the questions investigators are set to ask as the public inquiry was officially launched.
Lord Robert Weir, the judge overseeing the independent probe, insisted his investigation will puts patients “at the centre” of the process.
But Mr Kelly disagreed.
“These terms of reference only benefit those with a vested interest in keeping this whole sorry affair under wraps,” he said.
Mr Kelly is frustrated the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – a leading UK workplace regulator – is excluded from the inquiry.
He is also disappointed that the General Medical Council, a doctors’ watchdog, will be “largely unaccountable”.
Mr Kelly said: “By focusing the inquiry primarily on local bodies like NHS Tayside, it risks shielding the health board from deeper scrutiny of its oversight failures.
“If the inquiry doesn’t extend its investigation to national oversight bodies, NHS Tayside could evade responsibility for systemic issues that allowed Mr Eljamel’s actions to continue unchecked.”
Mr Kelly was harmed by Eljamel in 2007.
In 2015, in an interview with The Courier, the former Radio Tay DJ was the first patient to go public about the shamed former Ninewells Hospital medic, who fled to his native Libya after his behaviour was exposed.
Two years ago, Mr Kelly told us how he nearly died a few days after his surgery.
The inquiry will explore whether NHS Tayside “concealed or failed to disclose evidence” of Eljamel’s butchery while employed by the health board.
The Courier understands the Eljamel inquiry will still be able to take evidence from HSE and GMC officials.
It simply won’t be able to give any findings about either public body because they are both reserved to Westminster.
Jules Rose, a Kinross mum who was harmed by Eljamel, is also unhappy that the HSE and GMC will not form a central part of the public inquiry.
“Victims must be at the heart of this inquiry,” she said. “At first glance, it appears this is not the case.
“It’s extremely disappointing to read that the HSE’s role shall not be included within the terms of reference.
“This oversight allows significant failures in patient safety to go unaddressed.”
She warned this was a “critical red flag”.
Ms Rose said she is now considering whether she will take part in the inquiry.
Launching the inquiry, Lord Weir said: “I recognise that for many former patients and their families the experiences which form the subject matter of the inquiry have been traumatic.
“That is why my inquiry is committed to conducting its work in a way that is trauma-informed.
“It will listen to those who feel their voices have not been heard.”
He added: “My aim is to conduct a fair and thorough Inquiry that reaches answers to the questions posed by our Terms of Reference for those who seek them.”
The launch comes 19 months after a public inquiry was first granted by the Scottish Government.
A website for the investigation is now live.
Last week we revealed Eljamel is now the subject of a criminal investigation.
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