Great Ormond Street Hospital said it was “incredibly sorry” after launching an urgent review into the cases of 721 children treated by the same surgeon in London.
Patients suffered life-changing injuries including amputations, permanent deformities and chronic pain, the Sunday Times reports.
Former consultant surgeon Yaser Jabbar, 43, who worked in its orthopaedic department, has been described by colleagues as “cavalier” and “blasé”.
At least 22 children who underwent limb reconstruction surgery are known to have been harmed, according to a leaked report on the scandal by the Royal College of Surgeons.
Thirteen of those cases were classed as severe with one victim aged just four-months-old.
Some youngsters have been left with different length legs, in some cases by as much as eight inches (20cm), while other injuries include muscle damage and nerve injuries.
One father’s six-year-old son was left in “terrible pain” after undergoing a lower limb reconstruction in July 2021.
This procedure involved surgically breaking the bone, then inserting metal rings, known as Ilizarov frames, and tension wires to hold the leg in place.
However, he raised concerns when a different apparatus was reportedly used during the operation.
The parent told The Sunday Times: “After a couple of days the frame became loose and my child was in a lot of pain. You could feel the bone in his leg, which felt out of position, like it wasn’t lined up and was protruding the wrong way.
“We tried to raise our concerns repeatedly through the official complaints procedure, and I copied the clinical director into many emails, but heard nothing back.”
The RCS described the department where Jabbar worked as “dysfunctional”.
It labelled the NHS trust as being run like a “political organisation” and consultants behaving in “outdated, unacceptable and hierarchical” ways.
In recent years, patient safety was repeatedly put at risk by “eye-rolling” consultants who belittled junior colleagues, the review found.
Caroline Murgatroyd, of Hudgell Solicitors, is seeking “substantial compensation” for families of a number of children treated by Jabbar.
She told the Standard: “Some of our clients have been contacted with details of initial findings of the Royal College of Surgeons’ reviews of their medical records, and they paint a very worrying picture of the treatment provided to children by Mr Jabbar.
“In one particular case a child underwent an amputation after having been put through a series of procedures. In this case the review panel found the amputation could possibly have been avoided with a different route of treatment.
“Children have suffered leg length discrepancies following inappropriate and unnecessary surgeries which will require further and prolonged treatment, and nerve injuries causing ongoing pain.
“The initial findings we have seen indicates there may have been serious failures in care to many patients, over a number of years.
“I think initially people may have been reluctant to seek legal help until the full investigation, which is ongoing, is completed.
“However, I’d now encourage people to contact us if their children were under the care of this surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital, especially if they have concerns over treatments, surgeries, and a lack of consultation and understanding of what was being done.”
A spokesman for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children told the Standard: “We are committed to learning from every single patient that we treat, and to being open and transparent with our families when care falls below the high standards we strive for.
“Following concerns raised by our staff and families, we asked the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) to review our paediatric orthopaedic service. We accept the findings in full and are taking steps to act on all its recommendations.
“As part of the review, the RCS raised concerns around the practice of a surgeon who no longer works at the Trust, and other practice within the service. We are taking these concerns incredibly seriously.
“We have contacted all patients of the surgeon and a group of independent experts from other paediatric hospitals are reviewing the care of all the patients of this surgeon. We are incredibly sorry for the worry and uncertainty this review may cause them.
“There are a number of clear routes for staff to raise concerns – the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian service, the Patient Safety team, any member of the Executive team and a Non-Executive Director with responsibility for Freedom to Speak Up. Despite thorough investigations, we can find no records of concerns being raised by any of these routes prior to June 2022.
“Staff made senior management aware of concerns in June 2022 and a fact-finding investigation started shortly after, with follow up actions and reviews to address immediate issues, leading us to contact the RCS within 18 working days from the point senior management were made aware to discuss commissioning an external review.
“Following the return of the reports from the RCS, our Orthopaedic Service Review Improvement Programme has since April 2024 been overseeing work to review the patients of the surgeon and wider service improvement work. We apologise to patients and families who have been impacted.
“Reviews into services or individuals are an important part of our work to ensure the quality and safety of our services. We will ensure that the all the findings of this review are addressed at pace, and we will reflect on any wider learnings around our culture.
“We have contacted all patients and families who have been impacted and where harm has been identified, discussed their cases with them under our duty of candour. To all of them, we wish to convey our sincere apologies.”
