Compensation for whistle-blower surgeon

A surgeon who faced harassment and racial discrimination after raising concerns about patient safety has been awarded significant compensation after being supported by the BMA.

Middlesbrough consultant surgeon Manuf Kassem has been awarded compensation totalling £578,643 by an employment tribunal following a claim brought against his employer, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.

Originally from Iraq, Mr Kassem began his career at the trust in 2002 as an associate specialist in general surgery, with the judgement of the tribunal noting he had enjoyed an unblemished career of ‘long service with nothing negative on his disciplinary record’.

Mr Kassem’s difficulties began in August 2017 when he highlighted safety concerns including ‘complications, negligence, delayed treatment and avoidable deaths’, something the tribunal’s judgement confirmed ‘amounted to a protected disclosure’.

After his concerns were dismissed, Mr Kassem found himself being subjected to a 78-week disciplinary process which also saw him being suspended from the emergency rota and able only to carry out elective work.

Mr Kassem brought a case against his employer in 2019 under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, arguing he had been discriminated against owing to his race, harassed and subjected to detriments on the grounds that he had made a protected disclosure.

Following a hearing in 2021, the tribunal determined Mr Kassem’s claims of racial discrimination and harassment and being detrimentally affected for making a protected disclosure which was well-founded.

During the legal proceedings, Mr Kassem continued to work as a surgeon while facing an investigation and being removed from the emergency rota throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, all the while representing himself at his employment tribunal.

Further hearings to determine the compensation award took place in November 2022 and January 2024, with compensation being agreed in October.   

Despite having successfully represented himself during the original tribunal, Mr Kassem expressed his thanks to the BMA for the assistance it provided him during the reconsideration of his compensation, a process that had been complex and arduous.

With the final compensation award now reached, Mr Kassem has publicly stated he believes his case demonstrates a need for greater regulation of management in the NHS, and that there needs to be more support given to doctors and other healthcare professionals who blow the whistle on safety concerns.

While there is no single regulatory framework for NHS managers, the Department of Health and Social Care earlier launched a public consultation on 26 November about how these positions might be regulated in future.

The consultation, which will run until 18 February, will seek to obtain views on methods of regulation and on the possibility of introducing a professional duty of candour for NHS managers.