NHS Tayside 'should have' stopped disgraced brain surgeon SEVEN YEARS before he was struck off, inquiry told

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026.

NHS Tayside's own executive medical director, Dr James Cotton, told the Eljamel Inquiry that disgraced brain surgeon Sam Eljamel could have been removed from operating up to seven years before his 2014 strike-off. Cotton said he "fundamentally" cannot understand why, despite clear patient-safety concerns already on record, Eljamel was permitted to continue operating without supervision. A supervision arrangement was put in place in June 2013, but the inquiry heard it consisted of little more than weekly meetings about his patients — not his surgical technique or practice.

Cotton said he would personally have stopped Eljamel far sooner, on the basic test of whether it was 'safe for patients'.

The supervision regime was so weak it failed to address Eljamel's actual surgical practice, the inquiry heard.

Eljamel resigned voluntarily rather than face a medical tribunal before being struck off by regulators in 2014.