Home / Health / Surgeon Cleared of Dishonesty in £1M Compensation Claim
Surgeon Cleared of Dishonesty in £1M Compensation Claim
14 Nov
Summary
- Surgeon suffered stroke, sued NHS for £1M in damages
- Accused of "fundamental dishonesty" after poor IQ test scores
- Judge ruled he was not dishonest, but denied compensation
In November 2025, a Cambridge surgeon named Dr. Mohamed Atef Hakmi faced accusations of "fundamental dishonesty" from the NHS after scoring a "very bad" 84 on a pre-trial IQ test. The 64-year-old lecturer had sued the NHS for over £1 million in damages, alleging medical errors denied him crucial stroke treatment in 2016, leading to permanent disabilities.
However, a High Court judge has now ruled that Dr. Hakmi did not deliberately perform poorly on the tests to exaggerate his impairments. The judge said he was convinced Dr. Hakmi's poor results stemmed from exhaustion and problems in his family life, not dishonesty.
Despite clearing Dr. Hakmi of dishonesty, the judge ultimately rejected his compensation claim. The court heard Dr. Hakmi, a Herts-based orthopaedic surgeon and medical educator, suffered a second stroke in November 2016 but was not given the same clot-busting treatment as before. He accused the NHS of negligence, but the judge found his stroke symptoms were not serious enough to warrant the treatment in time.
Even if Dr. Hakmi had received the treatment, the judge said it likely would not have altered the outcome, as he has made a "very good, if imperfect, recovery" from the stroke. While denying the damages, the judge ordered the NHS to pay 15% of Dr. Hakmi's legal costs.
