Victims of disgraced former NHS Tayside surgeon Sam Eljamel claimed police are “kicking the can down the road” as they protested the slow pace of investigation.
Campaigner Jules Rose told The Courier patients are being left in limbo as she joined a demonstration outside the force’s Bell Street Dundee headquarters on Wednesday.
Police started to probe the behaviour of Eljamel in September 2018 when complaints were first lodged.
The shamed neurosurgeon, employed in Ninewells from 1995 to 2013, harmed more than 100 patients and left many with life-changing injuries.
Yet nearly six years after investigations begun, police have not established whether Eljamel’s actions should be deemed criminal.
The probe only escalated into a “major investigation” last October after the Scottish Government ordered a public inquiry into the fiasco.
Dozens of patients gathered at Bell Street with placards showing when they first made their own complaints against Eljamel.
Victims lined up fizzy juice cans and then kicked them down the stairs outside the station in a pointed dig at police.
One protester was dressed up in surgeon garbs as Eljamel himself.
Another campaigner impersonated an NHS Tayside executive with a huge “pension pot” while 1980s hit Getting Away With It was blasted on speakers.
Former Dundee DJ Pat Kelly was the first patient to flag concerns about the disgraced medic’s behaviour 10 years ago.
He was also the first victim to go to police in 2015, three years before they would eventually start investigating.
Speaking at the protest, he told us campaigners feel they are meeting endless hurdles.
Patients had to spend years demanding a public inquiry before the SNP finally relented.
He said: “It’s so frustrating. People keep apologising and do nothing.
“We’ve got to keep putting pressure on these organisations. We shouldn’t have to do that.”
Kinross campaigner Ms Rose addressed campaigners during the demonstration, saying: “Patients have been in limbo for over five and a half years.
“There seems to be an absence of an urgency from the police. They continue to kick the can down the road.”
Speaking to The Courier, she added: “We’re absolutely livid. We thought our days of protesting were over.
“It is hurdle after hurdle. But we are a tenacious bunch and we are not going to give up.”
Bringing Eljamel to justice in Scotland will be difficult for police given he fled to his home country Libya years ago.
Last September we revealed investigating officers fear he will never be extradited.
Ms Rose admitted the chances of him being made to return are “very slim”, but said she would never completely give up hope.
In November, she made a direct complaint against NHS Tayside in a bid to widen the police investigation into the scandal.
She wants officers to expand their probe into the health board’s alleged failure to protect patients.
The investigation is currently being headed up by Detective Inspector Willie Murdoch.
Police Scotland declined a request from The Courier to interview him.
Prior to the demonstration, a police spokesperson said: “We are aware of a protest planned outside Bell Street Police Station in Dundee.
“We have been in contact with the organisers to agree an area where protestors can assemble safely.”
They added: “This is an extremely complex investigation which is being investigated by specialist officers from the major investigation team.”
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