Secretary, 88, sues for ageism after being sacked by NHS

AN 88-year-old woman who did not take a day off sick in 10 years has become the oldest person to sue for age discrimination after being sacked as an NHS secretary.

Grandmother Eileen Jolly lost her job last January over claims that she failed to use a computer system properly.

NHS chiefs admit Mrs Jolly, who has a heart condition and walks with a stick, was unfairly dismissed at Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital because she had no chance to appeal.

But they insist the sacking was not based on her age.

An employment tribunal last week deferred judgment on her claims of age and disability discrimination. Yesterday Mrs Jolly, of Reading, whose husband died just two weeks ago, said she could not comment following legal advice.

But she is understood to have been particularly hurt that one colleague was quoted as saying: “It was always a concern that you could walk in and find Eileen dead on the floor.”

Mrs Jolly told the hearing she had not had a day off sick for 10 years, despite a heart attack at work in 2004 where she was resuscitated.

She said: “It had been my intention to continue to work for as long as I could – until I was at least 90.”

She was backed by her boss, breast surgeon Brendan Smith, who said she was “reliable and meticulous” and was being used as a “scapegoat” for management failings.

Accusing managers of bullying, he said: “Eileen was at the bottom of the tree. I think they made an example of her because heads had to roll.”

Mrs Jolly was blamed for not uploading details of women awaiting non-urgent breast reconstruction surgery to a new database – later cited in part for 14 women having to wait more than a year for surgery.

Mrs Jolly insisted she had not been properly trained to use the electronic patient record system.

After her sacking, Mrs Jolly was prescribed anti-depressants and felt too ashamed to tell anyone what really happened, saying instead that she had “retired”. The Reading hearing was told Michael Eastwell, the hospital trust’s deputy patient pathway manager, made a report which said Mrs Jolly had a “fundamental misunderstanding” of her role.

It led to her being dismissed “on grounds of capability” for “a catastrophic failure”.

Mrs Jolly’s barrister, Mark Green, said hospital bosses were guilty of “insidious stereotyping about elderly people” and treated her “callously”.

Paul Wilson of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said Mrs Jolly was given a permanent contract in 2012 and later a new job, which showed that the trust did not practise age discrimination.