SerpApi.Org
A plastic surgeon who “abandoned” his NHS job at a Yorkshire hospital for a £250,000 a year post in Abu Dhabi has won an unfair dismissal case against the NHS.
Augustine Akali applied for a sabbatical so he could accept a two-year contract in the tax-free capital of the United Arab Emirates on a salary of around £21,000 per month, an employment tribunal heard.
Mr Akali, who already received a large NHS salary, departed from the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to go and work in the UAE without permission, before the trust dismissed him.
The surgeon, who was viewed as an “accomplished” breast cancer surgeon, had been refused sabbatical leave after managers at the Hull NHS Trust said his plans to make financial gains did not align with trust policy.
Mr Akali complained that he felt “very badly let down by the trust” which he then successfully sued.
A tribunal judge in Hull supported his claim for unfair dismissal when it ruled that the NHS trust fired him without any proper process and in “confusing” circumstances.
But the tribunal said Mr Akali would not receive any compensation because he “to all intents and purposes just abandoned his post”.
Mr Akali started working for the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as a consultant plastic surgeon in December 2008, the tribunal heard. He was based at Castle Hill hospital in Hull and also had his own “profitable” private practice with both jobs earning him a combined net income of £250,000 a year.
The tribunal was told how in 2023 Mr Akali was offered a job at Tawam hospital in Abu Dhabi on a salary that was equivalent to around £21,000 per month tax-free and provided an annual salary of up to £250,000.
NHS sabbaticals could be granted for work but it is with the requirement that the individual does not earn significantly more money than their current level of income, the tribunal heard.
Mr Akali was said to have explained to Ashutosh Kotwal, his clinical manager, and Colin Vize, the medical director, that he wanted to take a break to revitalise his career.
Work in developing countries
He hoped to develop a microsurgical reconstruction service where none existed and do more work in developing countries, in particular in Africa.
Mr Vize said that working in Abu Dhabi may be a problem in his application because it would allow him to earn more money.
The tribunal found that there was confusion over who needed to sign off the sabbatical leave and further misunderstanding as colleagues were unsure if he was in fact resigning.
As the confusion continued, Mr Akali moved to Abu Dhabi to start the post. NHS officials at the trust then sacked him by letter for the reason that he had taken a sabbatical without authorisation.
Judge Ian Miller ruled that he was unfairly dismissed because Mr Akali had not resigned and was dismissed by the Trust without any due process.
Judge Miller said: “Although the [Trust] had a potentially fair reason to dismiss [him], the [Trust] did not undertake any kind of process at all before dismissing [him] and the dismissal was unfair in all of the circumstances.”
