Surgeon suspended for dishonesty after botched vaginal mesh operation left patient ‘devastated’

The surgeon hailed as a hero for saving mesh-injured women has been suspended from practising after being found guilty of “serious misconduct” and “dishonesty”.

London-based consultant Professor Sohier Elneil, who received prestigious awards and accolades from former prime minister Theresa May over her work, has been suspended from carrying out operations for a period of nine months.

She has been told that her ability to work as been “impaired” following a complaint by a Scottish mesh patient who said she had been assured the surgeon had fully removed the implant in a single procedure. The professor has been told by the disciplinary tribunal that her “dishonest conduct fell so far short of the standards to be expected of a doctor so as to amount to serious misconduct”.

Consultant’s suspension

Suspending a consultant is a highly unusual step, but the tribunal has said that its actions were required to reflect the seriousness of what happened, and to protect public confidence in the medical profession.

The Scottish mum appealed to NHS Highland to fund a removed by Elneil after seeing her on television and hearing her being described as a hero. After the procedure, Elneil wrote to NHS Highland: “We were able to remove the mesh in its entirety. It was quite firmly embedded into the obturator fascia.”

But it turned out that, in fact, only a tiny amount of mesh had been removed, and the patient later discovered that Elneil had left a trainee with experience of only a handful of such operations to carry out most of the procedure.

Before funding for the operation was approved by NHS Highland, the patient had sent the professor a message saying: “I’m so praying my health board will fund my full removal operation with you. Only the best will do and that’s you!”

The professor responded: “That’s very kind and I sincerely hope the same. Will do my best to help in any way.”

© Shutterstock / Casa nayafana

Letters from the patient’s GP also queried whether the professor could remove all the mesh, and NHS Scotland’s Clinical Advisory Group was also asking the same thing when three Scottish consultants had already said that it would have been “unlikely”.

The woman said she was “horrified” and “felt betrayed” that she had placed all her trust in the surgeon, who appeared on BBC television shows and was even given an award by The One Show as an NHS Hero. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal found Elneil had been “dishonest” about the 2017 procedure.

The ruling against Elneil stated: “The tribunal was satisfied that Dr Elneil’s dishonest conduct fell so far short of the standards to be expected of a doctor so as to amount to serious misconduct.”

The tribunal described Elneil’s letter as “deliberately misleading” and noted that she had apologised to the patient and NHS Highland for “not being clear”.

Patient left ‘devastated’

The patient said she was “devastated” when she continued to be gravely ill and later discovered the surgeon had only removed a tiny section of mesh.

Elneil said in a statement to the tribunal: “I recognise that the care provided was not as holistic, supportive or effective as it should have been. I have expressed my sincere apologies to the patient for this.”

She added: “I acknowledge the challenges the patient faced caused distress, anxiety and a sense of being overlooked. The delays in communication may well have exacerbated feelings of helplessness and frustration, affecting the patient’s recovery and trust. I remain deeply sorry about this.”

The Scots mesh victim said: “I suspect there are other women who do not realise they have also been treated the way I was, and I hope now they come forward and get the truth.”

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s Shadow Health Minister said: “For those women who had to fight to seek help, to be let down a second time by someone they trusted is a double whammy.”