Employment Law Specialists
Successful constructive unfair dismissal claim for surgeon following flawed Maintaining High Professional Standards (MHPS) process
Ligy Thomas v (1) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – ET, 2019
Ms Thomas was employed by the Trust consultant surgeon in otorhinolaryngology (diseases of the ear, nose and throat). Professor Pugh was the Trust’s medical director.
Ms Thomas resigned following a two year period where she had felt bullied and harassed by her colleagues. The culmination of this was an investigation into her conduct under the NHS’ Maintaining High Professional Standards “MHPS” process, during which significant restrictions had been placed on her ability to practice. Mr Thomas claimed that this treatment of her, and her subsequent need to resign her position had been caused by her making a number of protected disclosures, largely about patient safety issues. She brought claims for automatic unfair dismissal on the basis of whistleblowing, whistleblowing detriment and constructive unfair dismissal.
Whilst the Tribunal found that she had made a number of protected disclosures, it did not accept that she suffered any detriment because of those disclosures or that they caused her dismissal. However, the Tribunal found that Ms Thomas had been constructively dismissed because the Trust had breached the term of mutual trust and confidence in her employment contract in the flawed way that it commissioned the MHPS report and the flawed way in which is relied on the conclusions in that report. This decision was important for Ms Thomas’ reputation and career prospects.
Ms Thomas was subsequently awarded a Basic Award of £2,155.50 and a Compensatory Award of £77,844.35.
The team of lawyers at BDBF acting in this case was Arpita Dutt, Samantha Prosser and Clare Brereton.