Surgeon banned by private practice is working for NHS

A surgeon banned working for a private healthcare company, after examining patient safety, continues to work in NHS, understanding BBC.

Nuffield Health has stopped Mark Lamah from working in his hospitals, but he is still working on patients for the university hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

An NHS patient left after an operation with a twisted bowel, he said that he should never work again.

Mr. Lamah did not respond to the BBC request for the remarks sent through his employer.

In January BBC revealed Concerns were raised about the complexity rate of Mr. Lamah and she was now pending an investigation at Nafield Health Hospital in Briton.

A former hospital employee told the BBC that internal data showed that one of the patients of Mr. Lamah had experienced a “medium damage occurrence”, where, for example, a patient was to be transferred to another hospital over a 12 -month period or advised. This figure should be 5%, BBC was told.

In a BBC statement, Nafield Health said after an independent investigation, “We can confirm that Nafield Health has been withdrawn with Sri Lamah’s practice privileges.

“His conduct did not meet the standards of medical practice and governance, which we expect. Patient safety is our top priority, and we keep all advisors on the highest standards.”

Sri Lamah continues to work as a colorectal surgeon at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

The university hospital Sussex NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, told the BBC that he had audited the NHS data of Sri Lamah, showing that his results were within the expected national border. The trust stated that Nafield’s investigation “had no concern about technical abilities, surgical practice or patient safety”.

The trust is at the center of a large police investigation, looking into at least 200 cases of Operation Brabber, alleged medical negligence.

Sussex Police is investigating the trust between 2015 and 2021 in the trust’s neurosurgery and general surgery departments.

The trust runs seven hospitals in East and West Sussex and is one of the largest organizations within NHS, providing care to the population of about two million people.

Sheryl Hunter says that after the NHS operation performed by Mr. Lamah, he has faced “five -year hell”. He has to manually dig his intestines and require many emergency entrys.

After suffering from endometriosis for many years, in 2019, doctors decided that Ms. Hunter, a mother of one, needed an operation to reduce her pain.

Mr. Lamah decided that the best way is to remove a part of his large intestine, colon, and connect it to your small intestine.

Ms. Hunter said, “I felt something pop, and this very terrible fluid was coming to me”.

He was taken back to the Royal Sussex, where he discovered the joint between the two intestines, and “for 10 days it was filling my stomach with bowel.”

This is a known complexity of this type of surgery, BBC understands.

Despite solving that problem, Ms. Hunter faced excessive pain for many years, requiring frequent visits for both her GP and Royal Sussex Hospital.

He said: “I have very few days. By this, I mean I am curling in a ball crying in a ball.

“When I try to go to the toilet, I shout at the toilet in tears because it is very painful to go, to open my intestines. I have to do it manually, which means I have to wear gloves.

“The pain is very serious – it is in my stomach, it gets in my spine, under my feet, my arms.”

The letters shared by Ms. Hunter with the BBC showed that her GP wrote to Mr. Lamah that he repeatedly requested that he sees it again.

In January 2023, GP wrote that “We have written to you on many occasions to review them and discuss their options”.

A few days later Mr. Lamah replied that he has not received any previous letter.

But about 12 months later, in December 2023, GP wrote another letter to see Mr. Lamah to see him.

Ms. Hunter told the BBC that she had “begged” by colleagues to see her, but “she refused”.

Finally, in April 2024, he was seen by another advisor in a separate hospital run by the same trust – Princess Royal Hospital in Hewords Heath – when she came to know what her pain was.

“The main problem is a twist of 180 degrees on a small bowel that causes an internal hernia and rotate anstomosis [the surgical joint]”After the procedure, the discharge sheet given by the hospital to Ms. Hunter said.

“When he re -combined [of the intestines]They placed it backwards, “Sheryl said she was told.

“He [creates] Risk of breakdown. If you break, it is a two -hour window before death.

“If I was not opening my bowel manually for five years, he said that it would have happened.”

The trust stated that surgical error was presented only as a limit to possibilities.

The BBC passed the details to an independent medical expert, which said the twist “is definitely the result of the 2019 operation”.

The trust said only another operation would confirm whether Mr. Lamah has made an error or whether the turn took place naturally.

However, the disadvantage is now more widespread, as it was first treated with Ms. Hunter.

He has been told that he will need pelvic reconstruction surgery before performing another operation to fix his intestines. He is in a waiting list for the first process and has spoken to the Sussex police about his experience.

Former NHS colleagues have also expressed concern for the BBC about Mr. Lamah, but continue to practice at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

“I think it is disgusting. The man should not be allowed to touch any other patients,” said Ms. Hunter.

“I was told that Mark Lamah has a terrible bedside method, but he is a great surgeon.

“Mark Lamar has a terrible bedside method, and he is a terrible surgeon. As far as I am concerned, it should not be allowed to operate.”

In a statement, Prof. Katie Urch, Chief Medical Officer of the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, told the BBC, “We cannot publicly discuss the care of a person, but we can fully understand the crisis and make any person living with ongoing complex health issues.

“Our clinical teams are dedicated to understanding the needs of their patients and providing the highest standard of care.

“While no medical procedure can guarantee a successful result, our teams strive for the best possible results every day – and if we ever have more to think that we can do more for a patient, we have strong systems, including regular use of independent experts, to help us learn and improve.”