Former Sick Kids appeal director to sue charity for unfair dismissal

THE woman who led the failed £15 million appeal for the Sick Kids hospital is set to sue for unfair dismissal, it emerged today.

Former director Elaine McGonigle was suspended and made redundant from the New Pyjamas campaign after it emerged it had raised only 60,000, despite spending 500,000.

The Evening News has now learned that Mrs McGonigle is taking the Sick Kids Friends Foundation to a tribunal in early 2011, despite the fact she has already received a redundancy settlement in accordance with her 60,000-a-year salary.

It came as supporters of the SKFF welcomed a report exonerating its trustees of wrongdoing over the ill-fated campaign, and urged fundraisers to look to the future.

In its report, the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) confirmed that the campaign had a "considerable income shortfall", but said the trustees had fulfilled their responsibilities.

Mrs McGonigle maintains that the SKFF undermined the campaign and that she was suspended because of her "in-your-face" attitude and for challenging charity bosses on difficult issues.

Her lawyer, Robert Holland, said: "We are representing Mrs McGonigle and two of her former colleagues who are exercising their rights of an unfair dismissal tribunal."

There is still no date set for the relaunch of the flagship scheme, which was supposed to take the new Sick Kids hospital at Little France from being a good hospital to a "truly world-class" facility.

Labour MSP George Foulkes, a high-profile supporter of the campaign, welcomed the OSCR findings. He said: "Clearly there needs to be a new look at the way it's structured and NHS Lothian needs to be involved more, but I think the main thing now is to forget about the past and get things moving on a firm footing for the future."

The OSCR said the SKFF should establish clear lines of authority, review its the constitution and structure, and introduce a "robust written feedback mechanism for staff".

It said the shortfall had been due to unrealistic expectations and the economic downturn, and said: "With hindsight, further exploration of the underlying issues should have resulted in the charity trustees having a better understanding of the true position and the likelihood of projections being achieved at an earlier stage."

However, the OSCR said it was satisfied that the fundraising shortfall "was not caused by misconduct in the administration of the charity by the charity trustees".

A spokesman for the foundation said the report's recommendations were already being implemented.

He added: "We are disappointed that the New Pyjamas campaign was unsuccessful, however the Sick Kids Friends Foundation has an outstanding track record in its own right and has raised in excess of 15m during its lifespan.

"We remain committed to supporting the delivery of a world-class hospital."

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