Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust was ordered to pay over PS200,000 to an ex-nurse after a tribunal found that it had failed to make reasonable accommodations following a brain injury.
The nurse, who has chosen to remain anonymous and is called Anthony, worked for the NHS nearly 25 years before he suffered from a brain hemorrhage in 2016.
After a 17-month break, he returned back to work in May 2018, but was plagued by memory problems and cognitive difficulties. He was sick in October 2019 as his GP evaluated his ongoing health concerns.
Reasonable adjustments delayed
Anthony was committed to returning back to work, according to the Royal College of Nursing. In February 2020, Anthony returned to work and submitted a report on Access to Work that identified the Equality Act adjustments that were required. The trust, however, delayed the implementation of the recommendations until August 2020 and only completed the process in December, ten months after he returned.
Anthony claimed that despite the Access to Work assessment indicating the need for memory aids and software to dictate, these tools were not delivered promptly. He was not trained in the use of these tools when they arrived. He was also moved back to a community-based role, despite an earlier agreement not to assign him named nurse or coordinator duties.
He also complained about being left alone to care for patients, despite the fact that policy requires him to be accompanied by another registered nursing.
I couldn’t perform my job
Anthony and his colleagues had agreed that if Anthony could not continue in his current role safely, he should step down. The first to notice errors in Anthony’s paperwork were his colleagues, who prompted him to seek further advice and take more leave.
After his second return to the workplace, adjustments were promised, but either never delivered or delayed. This led to a decline in mental health, and an absence from work.
Anthony stated that he had developed social anxiety. Anthony said, “It was extremely hard for me to leave my house or socialise in public places.” He also added that he felt “completely overwhelmed” by the situation.
He said, “I couldn’t perform my duties.” Anthony was permanently fired after a series of absences and challenges at work.
Legal Action
Anthony sought legal assistance from the Royal College of Nursing after the trust did not implement the Access to Work recommendation and failed to make the agreed adjustments. RCN Senior Lawyer Ferguson Doyle confirmed the tribunal’s finding that the trust had failed to make reasonable modifications, resulting in injury and loss.
The employer did not make reasonable adjustments as required by the Equality Act 2010 and caused the employee to be injured, forcing him to retire earlier due to ill health than he would have otherwise done,” Doyle said.
Anthony’s treatment by the NHS trust had a long-lasting impact on Anthony’s health and quality. The legal team has strong grounds for pursuing a case against disability discrimination.
The ruling
The Employment Tribunal concluded that his inability to return back to work was directly related to the failure of the trust to comply with its legal obligations under Equality Act, and his eventual early retirement because of ill health.
The total compensation of just over PS200,000 includes damages for injury to feelings and personal injury as well as loss of future earnings, pension losses, and current and future costs of care. The tribunal recognized the trust’s contribution to Anthony’s mental decline and early retirement from a long NHS tenure.
Anthony stated, “Trust management destroyed the last years of my career that I loved because they failed to implement several of their policies.” “I hope that lessons will be learned so that staff can be treated more fairly in future.”
