A doctor has been struck off after a botched surgery left a cancer patient unable to go to the toilet. A tribunal heard the patient would have died without emergency intervention to correct his 'extreme' errors.
Botched surgery details
Dr Yasser Adly Abdel Rahman was working as a locum general and colorectal surgeon at the Royal Oldham Hospital. In 2020, it was alleged Dr Rahman failed to provide good clinical care during and after an emergency operation that he performed on a patient.
'Patient A' later died in May 2021 but the tribunal was not made aware of the outcome of an inquest into his death.
Patient's ordeal
Patient A was admitted to hospital and underwent emergency surgery but in the following days, he reported 'increasing pain' or 'continually either vomiting'. Dr Rahman was alleged to have performed a surgery which formed 'a closed loop' with Patient A's internal organs. It meant contents of the patient's bowel were re-deposited back into his stomach.
The tribunal accepted Dr Rahman was faced with an 'extremely difficult procedure' due to the patient's 'complex medical history and the presence of the tumour' in the small bowel area. However, it was then reported in the weeks after the surgery the patient experienced pain getting worse and bowels being unable to open while fluid had to be drained from the stomach through suction.
The issues experienced by Patient A post surgery continued for another three weeks before another consultant took over his care and a second emergency operation was carried out. This second surgery allegedly revealed the errors made by Dr Rahman.
Tribunal findings
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service report said: "The tribunal decided that Dr Abdel Rahman had not accepted responsibility for his actions and had sought to blame [consultant general surgeon] Mr D. He had then criticised the experts, the Trust, and the GMC [General Medical Council] for the outcome of the subsequent investigations. It concluded that this demonstrated a marked lack of insight in relation to the clinical allegations."
The tribunal also 'reminded itself that [expert witness] Mr C had described the procedure that Dr Abdel Rahman carried out as being 'at the extreme end of surgical error,' and stated that 'it is as bad as it gets for a consultant surgeon'. Mr C said that the procedure conducted was 'not known to man.' The tribunal panel then 'concluded that such an extreme error is difficult to remediate' and while that was possible, 'the lack of evidence of either insight or subsequent remedial steps demonstrated that there remained a high risk of repetition in Dr Abdel Rahman's case'.
The report said: "The tribunal concluded that Dr Abdel Rahman's clinical failings both during the procedure and after were at the very high end of the spectrum of seriousness. It was particularly concerned that Mr C had stated that Dr Abdel Rahman's procedure was 'not compatible with life' and Patient A would have died had Mr D not carried out corrective surgery."
Doctor's response
In response to the tribunal, Dr Rahman claimed the hospital was 'pointing the finger of blame' at his but no evidence was presented to back that up. Dr Rahman also failed to challenge any of the evidence put forward but accused staff testifying against him of 'leading a witch hunt'.
According to a decision report, Dr Rahman said he did not accept the legitimacy of the investigation into his conduct, arguing that he was being treated as 'a scapegoat'. He said: "Personally, I could've never imagined the GMC's process to be so ripe with blatant bias."
He said: "The actions of the staff at Royal Oldham Hospital can only be described as malicious", adding: "The environment created by the staff at Royal Oldham hospital was one of passing the blame, of any and all complications arising during Patient A's treatment and simply twisting the words to make it seem as though Mr Rahman was to blame for all of it."
Conclusion
The tribunal concluded Dr Rahman 'made significant surgical errors and failed' and 'has shown no insight nor remediated his actions' which undermined public confidence and 'does not uphold proper professional standards'.
The report said: "The tribunal decided that a fully informed member of the public would not expect Dr Abdel Rahman to be allowed to continue in unrestricted practice, having been erased from the register for such serious misconduct." He has been struck off immediately.
