UK surgeon admits to burning initials on livers of two patients

Matthew Cooper

 

London: A surgeon has admitted burning his initials on to the livers of two unconscious patients during transplant operations.

 

Simon Bramhall, 53, admitted two counts of assault by beating at Birmingham Crown Court but pleaded not guilty to alternative charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

 

In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Bramhall wrote his initials on the livers of the two patients without their consent and for no clinical reason while working as a liver transplant surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

 

Full story: http://www.smh.com.au/world/uk-surgeon-admits-to-burning-initials-on-livers-of-two-patients-20171214-h04x1f.html

 

-- Sydney Morning Herald 2017-12-14

That is sick.

If this was during a transplant the entire team of transplant surgeons  and nurses must have been witness to it if not complicit in the act 

It simply beggars belief!

Sounds harmless.

Doctor on a power trip playing God. Good he got caught.

Maybe the next time he goes to get his teeth done, the dentist can etch a suitable epithet on the back of one of his teeth without his knowledge or consent.

4 hours ago, katana said:

Doctor on a power trip playing God. Good he got caught.

Maybe the next time he goes to get his teeth done, the dentist can etch a suitable epithet on the back of one of his teeth without his knowledge or consent.

etched on the front teeth ' idiot'

 

i hope he is now on the dole

Edited December 14, 20178 yr by steve187

13 hours ago, johncat1 said:

If this was during a transplant the entire team of transplant surgeons  and nurses must have been witness to it if not complicit in the act 

"It was done in the presence of colleagues"

(main article)

 

Sounds like something out of Carry on Nurse.

Sadly this is what happens when people get into authoritative positions where they feel they are untouchable and are given messages or only listen to messages telling them they are some sort of God. It is the disease of our time and there are plenty of examples all around us. One might suspect this is what is to be expected as a society enters terminal decline... a point all societies reach at some stage...  

maybe he was drunk while he did it...

If i had a liver transplant that saved my life they could dam well enscribe the koran all over mine. Couldnt careless.

I was wondering how they found out about it.  The Guardian has more information:

 

"The 53-year-old was first suspended from his post as a consultant surgeon at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital in 2013 after a colleague spotted the initials “SB” on an organ during follow-up surgery on one of Bramhall’s patients".

"Speaking after Bramhall’s suspension, Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, said: “This is a patient we are talking about, not an autograph book.”"

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/13/surgeon-admits-marking-his-initials-on-the-livers-of-two-patients

 

 

 

4 hours ago, nausea said:

"It was done in the presence of colleagues"

(main article)

 

Sounds like something out of Carry on Nurse.

I wish you had never made that post! I just lost an hour and a half of my day watching 'Carry on Nurse'   - They don't make em like that any more! 

46 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

I was wondering how they found out about it.  The Guardian has more information:

 

"The 53-year-old was first suspended from his post as a consultant surgeon at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital in 2013 after a colleague spotted the initials “SB” on an organ during follow-up surgery on one of Bramhall’s patients".

"Speaking after Bramhall’s suspension, Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, said: “This is a patient we are talking about, not an autograph book.”"

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/13/surgeon-admits-marking-his-initials-on-the-livers-of-two-patients

 

 

 

Depressing.  I'd hoped/assumed it was other staff present during the ops. that had reported him.

 

Apparently they didn't...... .

10 hours ago, steve187 said:

etched on the front teeth ' idiot'

 

i hope he is now on the dole

The awful thing is, last I heard was the GMC hadn't suspended or struck him off yet and he was still practising as a general surgeon at another hospital.

It's like the omerta.

 

Well. At least he didn't write " Kilroy  was here"

Having lived in Britain for 5 long years I got to know the easy going side of some British people. I imagine the patient when he was told about this probably say something like, "oh, he did that?, that's naughty".

Or he would say something like, "oh, I wouldn't be able to show my friends the initials would I ? that's a pity."

Edited December 15, 20178 yr by madusa
add more words

3 hours ago, Lemonltr said:

Well. At least he didn't write " Kilroy  was here"

We are showing our age and roots! That's one of the first things I thought 

Downgrade him to GP and make him serve out a sentence helping patients for the rest of his career at a modest stipend and subject to regular review as an alternative to wasting his talents in the clink. Time served to be equivalent to what he would get in prison if subject to a custodial sentence. Or he gets to work in the prison hospital /clinic. 

20 hours ago, nausea said:

"It was done in the presence of colleagues"

(main article)

 

Sounds like something out of Carry on Nurse.

Ooooh. Matron!

This man must consider himself an artist and likes to sign his work.

I know this is bloody serious.

 

(But no one's looking and I can't help but have a little chuckle at the audacity. )

11 minutes ago, champers said:

Ooooh. Matron!

You beat me to the exact same quote by ten minutes 555 

As an aside, isn't scarring of the liver one of the preliminary causes of damage leading to a liver transplant anyway? 

On 12/15/2017 at 11:37 AM, bsdthai said:

If i had a liver transplant that saved my life they could dam well enscribe the koran all over mine. Couldnt careless.

I agree it’s like an artist signing his painting

On 15/12/2017 at 10:07 AM, klauskunkel said:

maybe he was drunk while he did it...

That excuse would work in Thailand.

A liver surgeon who branded his initials (4cm high) on the livers of two patients has been fined £10,000. (12/01/18)
"Bramhall, of Tarrington, Herefordshire, admitted two counts of assault by beating at Birmingham Crown Court...
He was also sentenced to a 12-month community order.
...one of the two victims was left feeling "violated" and suffered ongoing psychological harm."
This was conduct born of professional arrogance of such magnitude that it strayed into criminal behaviour.
What you did was an abuse of power and a betrayal of trust that these patients had invested in you..."
Continued:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42663518 (12/01/18)

Edited January 13, 20188 yr by katana

I think my liver has 'Chang' written on it.