Campaign backs surgeon who ‘branded’ livers in ops
A FUNDRAISING campaign has been launched in support of disgraced liver surgeon Simon Bramhall.
Bramhall admitted two counts of assault by beating at Birmingham Crown Court in December. He was fined £10,000 was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
The 53-year-old performed the liver transplants at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital in August 2013 and used an ‘argon beam coagulator’ – an instrument designed to seal bleeding blood vessels – to sear his initials ‘SB’ into the organ.
His actions were only discovered when one of his patients had to have more surgery a week later, leading a different surgeon to spot the liver specialist’s calling card. But now one of Bramhall’s patients has set up the fundraising page, claiming he and his work were “highly valued”.
Barbara Moss wrote on the page: “We are aiming to match Simon’s fine of £10,000 and donate this to his chosen charity: The British Liver Trust. This in no way conflicts with the fine that Simon pays himself.”
So far, 14 supporters have pledged a total of £485.
Judi Rhys, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, said the organisation found Bramhall’s actions “profoundly disrespectful”.
Bramhall resigned from his job at the QE in 2014 when the act came to light, the city’s Crown Court was told. Frank Ferguson, head of spe- cial crime at the CPS, said Bramhall was a “very respected” surgeon to whom many patients owed their lives.
But asked about the surgeon’s motive, he said: “I can’t speak in terms of why he did that. Clearly he did not anticipate that it would be seen, I would suggest, but there was further surgery and he may not have understood how long it was likely to last.
“There was medical evidence that it may have lasted up to a couple of months in the way a minor burn might do on external skin. He accepted what he was doing was arrogant.”
Mr Ferguson said: “The first point is it’s a crime and the second point is the aggravating features are that it was very vulnerable victims, in the sense there is no greater trust than the trust which a patient places in a surgeon when they are having an operation. The breach of that trust and the abuse of that power were aggravating features that led us to conclude it was the right thing to do to take this case forward.”
The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the QE, said in a statement: “The trust is clear that Mr Bramhall made a mistake in the context of a complex clinical situation and this has been dealt with via the appropriate authorities, including the trust as his then employer. We can reassure his patients that there was no impact whatsoever on the quality of his clinical outcomes.”