NHS consultant is awarded £100,000 over 'bully' nurses

Published on Wednesday 12 December 2007 00:37

AN ORTHODONTIST who quit her NHS post after she was bullied out of her job has been awarded more than £100,000.

Sumithra Hewage, 52, who is originally from Sri Lanka, sued NHS Grampian over claims she was bullied and harassed by two senior nurses.

She claimed she had suffered sexual and racial discrimination while working as an orthodontist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

A tribunal heard how bosses carried out a "planned attack" on the consultant after she complained that "the system" was to blame for staff shortages.

Mrs Hewage was reduced to tears after she was bullied by Helen Strachan and Edith Munro.

They treated her differently to a male consultant working in the same role at the city hospital.

The employment tribunal has now ruled Mrs Hewage was a victim of sexual and racial discrimination and was unfairly dismissed.

Mrs Hewage's representative, Frank Lefevre, said yesterday his client would receive in excess of 100,000.

Mr Lefevre said: "Once the final calculations have been done, my client will be awarded in excess of a six-figure sum by the NHS.

"I am pleased my client has won her case, but it really should never have got as far as a tribunal - it was obvious NHS Grampian were at fault."

During the tribunal, the children's dental specialist claims she was left in tears at a meeting on 9 September, 2003 with Ms Strachan, the services manager, and clinical manager Ms Munro.

A written judgment published by the employment tribunal said the nurses' attitude to Mrs Hewage was "hostile and aggressive".

This led to Mrs Hewage feeling unwell as a result of stress.

The consultant quit her post as head of services for her department on 30 November, 2003, then left the hospital altogether in March 2005.

Ms Munro had denied bullying or harassment at the employment tribunal held earlier this year in Aberdeen.

Instead, the 58-year-old said she had confronted Mrs Hewage about an alleged remark made to a nurse about staffing problems with dental nurses. She claimed the consultant had blamed "the system" for staff shortages.

She also denied colluding with Ms Strachan to carry out a "planned attack" on Mrs Hewage.

Mrs Hewage had worked in dental services in the UK since 1979.

But she said she lost trust in the NHS after she made an official complaint.

An NHS Grampian spokesman said lawyers for the health board were now considering whether they had grounds for an appeal.

NEW SYSTEMS IN PLACE

AN NHS Grampian spokesman said the board has accepted its processes were not as sound as they should have been at the time.

They have now revised their "Dignity at Work" process so that there is more emphasis on informal early intervention where problems emerge.

The spokesman said: "We now have 14 trained confidential contacts who will follow up the concerns of staff on a confidential basis. The organisation will of course need to reflect on the full judgement."

And he added: "As a responsible employer, we believe every member of staff has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, irrespective of their sex, race, marital or health status, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or political conviction."