Doctor fired for misconduct ‘was victim of racism’
RELIEF FOR PROFESSOR AS TRIBUNAL FINDS BULLYING CLAIMS ‘LAUGHABLE’
A RESPECTED doctor who was unfairly sacked by Lincolnshire’s hospital trust after a “racist” investigation has said he always knew justice would prevail, writes Jamie Waller.
Professor Tanweer Ahmed, a leading voice in Lincoln’s ethnic communities, was hounded out of his job by “laughable” allegations of bullying, an employment tribunal concluded.
The hospital’s disciplinary procedure was mishandled at almost every stage, putting him through years of stress. The tribunal found Ahmed had been the victim of racial discrimination, unfair dismissal and victimisation.
The NHS trust denied that race played a factor in the dismissal, but Ahmed said he wants to see an independent investigation into discrimination.
“It’s a relief to get this decision at last – it’s been four years of stress. I had to take anti-depressants to cope with the financial and emotional impact. It was an extremely difficult time,” Ahmed said.
“I couldn’t have come through without the support of my family and the colleagues who spoke up for me. I always knew I had done nothing wrong, and had confidence that justice would prevail.
“NHS England needs to conduct an independent enquiry into discrimination in Lincolnshire hospitals to learn from what has happened to me and others.
“Up to 70 per cent of staff in some departments are BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic), and when they are not looked after, then patient care is seriously affected. They must be treated with dignity and respect. I have always fought to help BAME staff members and will keep working constructively with hospital authorities to fight for them.
“Two of my children are training to be doctors, and I don’t want them to suffer the way I have.”
Ahmed had a spotless record with the Trust, where he had worked for 16 years. He was the director of the Lincolnshire clinical research facility at the time, and also chaired the BAME staff network.
Allegations of bullying and harrasment were first raised by a former member of Ahmed’s team after she resigned in 2018. The tribunal said they were based mainly on hearsay, and he has maintained that these claims were “malicious” retaliation.
Jennie Negus, then the deputy chief nurse’s report, only spoke to people who would back up the allegations. Ahmed was kept in the dark about the full claims against him for nearly a year.
The report didn’t recommend that any disciplinary action was needed. However, Martin Rayson, the director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, escalated it to a hearing which would look into dismissing Ahmed.
He admitted in one email that he had had a recent “row in the car park” with him and said, “Tanweer will place the race card”.
The panel’s format was “entirely biased” in the hospital witnesses’ favour. Ahmed’s personal assistant – who was not interviewed during the investigation – described the allegations against him as “laughable”, and many of them were disproved. However, the panel (chaired by director of Operations Simon Evans) fired him for gross misconduct.
Ahmed was vindicated in the results of an employment tribunal hearing which have just been released. It found the Trust didn’t present any logical reason why he was fired – and couldn’t come up with an explanation to rule out racism.
The tribunal concluded: “We cannot see how [the Trust] legitimately concluded he was guilty of gross misconduct. We cannot, therefore, conclude on the balance of probabilities that race had nothing whatsoever to do with his dismissal.”
A spokesperson for the United Lincolnshire Health Trust said: “We have received the judgement of the employment tribunal panel and are taking time to fully consider it and any learning we might take.
“As an organisation, we take a zero-tolerance approach to discriminatory behaviour of any kind. We have recently launched a new organisational strategy and campaign which demonstrates just how seriously we take this issue on behalf of our staff and patients.”