What discussions ministers or officials have had with the chair of the public inquiry into Sam Eljamel regarding reported concerns raised b…

The Scottish Government fully recognises the pain and distress experienced by people impacted by Mr Eljamel’s practice. That is why we established the statutory public inquiry into the actions of Mr Eljamel and NHS Tayside to ensure patients obtain answers to their questions and that lessons are learned. The First Minister and former Cabinet Secretary for Health have met on several occasions with affected individuals and have been clear that the Scottish Government will continue to do all we can to ensure they get the answers they are seeking.The work of the Inquiry is continuing. The Scottish Government accepted that the decision to postpone the hearings scheduled in April and May was one for the Chair, Lord Weir. The work with core participants continues to enable progress to be made on the Inquiry.It is important that this process takes place, allowing core participants and members of the Inquiry to come together to fully address the issues.Most recently, Scottish Government officials met with Lord Weir, on 16 April 2026 to discuss various operational matters including those relating to Waverley Gate. Following that meeting, regular action reporting was established, with officials providing weekly updates to the Inquiry, via the Inquiry Secretariat, on progress against actions relating to the hearing suite and impact on the inquiry timeline.The Inquiry Chair held a virtual Procedural Hearing on 14 May 2026, during which Lord Weir and Counsel to the Inquiry, further examined issues relating to Waverley Gate as well as updating Core Participants on the Inquiry plans for the next scheduled hearings in September 2026. At that hearing, the Scottish Government committed to continue to provide detailed updates on progressing the resolution to the Waverley Gate building issues.The Scottish Government has since then continued to progress actions arising from that hearing with urgency and have provided the most recent update to the Inquiry Chair which will allow him to consider options to ensure there is no further delay to the Inquiry hearing schedule.