Wrongful Dismissal
Unfair Dismiss
t was for the Employment Tribunal to decide as a matter of law, whether the misconduct allegations against the Claimant were properly to be characterised as ‘professional misconduct’ obliging the Trust to have an independent, medically qualified person on the disciplinary panel in accordance with the Department of Health’s document, Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS (MHPS) and the Trust’s own internal policy. If the Tribunal erred in law in reaching its decision on that issue, the Employment Appeal Tribunal could interfere.
Considering the substance of each of the allegations against the Claimant, the Tribunal was as a matter of fact and law entitled and right to find that they had nothing to do with the exercise of the Claimant’s ‘clinical or professional conduct or competence’. The Tribunal did not err in law in reaching those conclusions.
Nor did the allegations raise issues of capability. It was no part of either sides’ case that they did.
That being so, there was no breach of contract because the requirement to appoint an independent medical expert under MHPS was not engaged. Further, as no capability issue arose, there was no need to have an assessment of capability carried out by the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS).
Citations:
[2018] UKEAT 0015 – 18 – 0811
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.630735