A Fife gran who heckled Humza Yousaf over the Eljamel scandal says she’s “disgusted” by his response.
The First Minister visited Theresa Mallet at her Glenrothes home after she confronted him during his SNP independence convention speech in Dundee.
Mr Yousaf later wrote to the victim of disgraced neurosurgeon Sam Eljamel, again turning down calls for a public inquiry into the scandal over fears about how long it could take.
In a furious rebuttal, Ms Mallet, 61, accused the first minister of simply paying “lip service” to her experiences, saying she had been “disgusted and disappointed” by his response.
“I feel let down by you, Humza. Disgusted and Disappointed,” she wrote in the stinging letter sent on July 18.
Theresa Mallet: Humza Yousaf came to make himself look better
“We’ve been waiting many years already and a few more would be fine by myself and the group when we know that a public inquiry would be thorough in its investigating and report in the public domain.
“A public inquiry is the right thing to do to make sure our hospitals are safe and myself, the other patients and the general public can start to rebuild trust in a broken system.”
Speaking to The Courier after her letter was made public, the Glenrothes resident said she feared Mr Yousaf never intended to listen to her views.
‘I’ll wait as long as it takes’
She said: “He came to see me to make himself look better. He was here with me but he certainly wasn’t listening,” she said.
“I will wait as long as it takes for a public inquiry. I’m not going anywhere and I won’t give up fighting,” she said.
Former medic Eljamel repeatedly botched operations while employed by NHS Tayside between 1995 and 2013 – affecting around 100 patients including Ms Mallet.
Campaigners have been calling for a full public probe into the issue to find out how the surgeon was able to harm patients for so long.
The Courier revealed how concerns were raised internally about Eljamel as early as 2009, with junior doctors saying they were “shut down” after attempting to blow the whistle.
But Humza Yousaf has all but ruled out a judge-led public inquiry, citing concerns about how long such a process could take.
With Eljamel now living in Libya, where he is believed to still work as a surgeon, the first minister also points out the doctor is unlikely to engage with such a probe.
Speaking to The Courier on Wednesday, the first minister said: “I think there is a process that should be suitably and adequately independent which doesn’t take as long as a public inquiry would.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the first minister would reply shortly to Ms Mallet.
She added: A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We recognise the significant ongoing concern and distress being experienced by former patients of Professor Eljamel.
“When the First Minister met Ms Mallett he outlined that the Scottish Government has committed to establishing an independent commission that could engage directly with former patients and deliver answers quicker than a public inquiry would.
“We will provide more detail on the scope of the commission shortly.”
