Doctor of Year ‘driven out’ after reporting Asian medics
Surgeon claims he was forced to resign after allegations of racism against him
AN NHS surgeon voted Doctor of the Year was forced to resign after being accused of racism for raising concerns about the abilities of three Asian colleagues, a tribunal has heard.
Peter Duffy, 56, reported one Indian doctor for missing “several” cancers, playing golf when he had been called to treat a patient and being unable to use an ultrasound machine. He also claimed that two other doctors, from India and Pakistan, bungled operations, tried to “suppress discussion” over the avoidable death of a man who had had sepsis and were involved in possible overtime fraud.
But Mr Duffy, a consultant urologist, said he was subjected to “malicious, toxic and utterly false” allegations over 10 years at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) and told to “watch his back” over his whistle-blowing. It was claimed that one doctor vowed he would be “taught a lesson,” while another was “spitting blood” after being suspended. He claims he was “driven out” by colleagues intent on revenge.
In 2015, Mr Duffy transferred to Furness General Hospital, Barrow-in-furness, where he was voted “Doctor of the Year” by patients and colleagues. He was said to have streamlined the care of urology patients and reduced waiting lists. He was also praised for treating all members of the team equally, “getting stuck in, even mopping the floor between theatre cases”.
But that year, consultant Saleem Nassem, one of the RLI doctors he had complained about, became coclinical lead for the trust’s urology department.
Mr Duffy claimed that one colleague told him: “You’ve made enemies here. They’ve got the means, the motive and now the opportunity to finally get shot of you.”
Mr Duffy resigned in 2016 complaining that his pay had been cut amid unproven allegations about his own overtime. He is claiming constructive dismissal.
In a statement to the Manchester tribunal, Mr Duffy said he had been the victim of a “sustained campaign of victimisation, vilification and disinformation”.
“I was clearly threatened, abused, victimised and briefed against by those individuals who did not share my belief in a high quality clinical service in the best traditions of the NHS and who clearly felt threatened by my protected disclosures,” he said.
Mr Duffy said that since his “forced resignation” he had discovered that anonymous allegations were made to police suggesting he was a racist bully and that all ethnic minority doctors at the hospital were “in fear of him,” it was said.
A secret meeting was allegedly held without Mr Duffy’s knowledge in which he was accused of racism by Kavinda Madhra, Ashutush Jain and Saleem Nassem, the three consultants. None of the claims was substantiated. The urologist, who now works on the Isle of Man, said he had been left “extremely traumatised” and felt unable to work for the NHS again. The hearing continues.