Surgeon hailed a hero for saving mesh injured women suspended from practice

A surgeon dubbed an "angel without wings" after she exposed the vaginal mesh scandal has been found guilty of serious misconduct and had her medical licence suspended.

Professor Sohier Elneil was found guilty of allegations over whether she had, or could, fully remove mesh implants in a single procedure. NHS Digital data confirmed that between April 2008 and March 2017 – 27,016 patients had a mesh procedure for POP (protrusion of one or more pelvic organs - bladder, rectum, uterus, vaginal vault, bowel).

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review estimates that 10,000 people were left with disabilities as the mesh cut into their organs and nerves. The surgeon was at the centre of exposing the scandal with women flocking to her to have their mesh removed.

Her work saw her praised by the then Prime Minister . Prof Elneil won a Health Hero Award after being nominated “for her role uncovering the vaginal mesh scandal.” PM May told the awards ceremony: “Tonight we say thank you to a surgeon whose remarkable empathy and determination is not only transforming the lives of her own patients but improving care for others too.”

Addressing Elneil, she said: “You have shown the importance of championing the voice of patients. You have helped change the way in which mesh is used. You’ve made a real difference to people’s lives – you are truly a health hero.”

But now the doctor has been found guilty of serious misconduct and dishonesty over her treatment of a Scottish patient. The mum had received funding from Highland to pay for her mesh removal surgery in London. The woman believed the professor was her only hope of becoming free from the plastic mesh.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal found Elneil, who works at University College Hospital, London, had been dishonest with NHS Highland about whether she had fully removed the mesh from that patient during a procedure they paid for which took place in London in 2017, the reports.

In a letter to the health board, Elneil had said: “We were able to remove the mesh in its entirety. It was quite firmly embedded into the obturator fascia.” 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”.. It also determined that “a finding of impairment was necessary to promote and maintain public confidence in the medical profession and to promote and maintain proper professional standards and conduct for members of that profession”.

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 said: “I acknowledge that 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, ultimately affecting the patient’s recovery and trust in the healthcare system. I remain deeply sorry about this.”

Linda Millband, head of medical negligence group actions at Thompsons Solicitors, who represents more than 100 women affected by mesh injuries, said many of her clients would be ‘deeply distressed’ to learn of Elneil’s actions.

She said: "Patients place immense trust in their surgeons, and when that trust is broken, the consequences can be life-altering.

“Many of our existing clients were treated by Elneil to correct significant damage caused by earlier procedures involving vaginal mesh. They will therefore be deeply distressed to hear of the tribunal’s findings."

Earlier this year, Sonia Browne spoke to the about how she, like thousands of women in the UK, was left with debilitating pain, bleeding and having difficulty walking following vaginal mesh surgery.

She said she waddled like a penguin as she could no longer open her legs, had excruciating pain that would go across her pelvis, up her back and down her legs since the moment she woke up from having the mesh inserted in 2007.

At the time she hailed Prof Elneil as the one who understood what she was going through. The surgeon removed Sonia's mesh during a five-hour operation in 2019. She said: "I waddled into her clinic, she said I know what's wrong with you, I know how much pain you are in and I just burst into tears. She's like an angel without wings."