NHS doctor awarded £85,000 for unfair dismissal
CDDFTA doctor who was unfairly dismissed by an NHS trust has been awarded £85,000 in compensation at an employment tribunal.
In January 2021 Dr Faisal Qureshi, from Newcastle, began working directly for County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) on its bank - a rota system where staff pick up available shifts.
He argued that because he was working regular shifts he should be classed as an employee but, when he raised a grievance, he was told he would no longer be offered set shifts and must only work available bank shifts.
The trust initially fought the case but later admitted Dr Qureshi was an employee and said it "accepted the outcome of the tribunal".
Dr Qureshi said his set shifts meant he was an employee of the trust and he should have received the same benefits and protections as other staff members, such as sick pay.
He claimed the way the bank shifts were used at CDDFT was "unfair" for doctors and were being "misused".
"This is a widespread issue throughout the country where doctors are having their employment rights violated by these unfair practises," he said.
A spokesperson for CDDFT said: "We accept the outcome of the employment tribunal.
"We will review the findings for any further action we need to take."
The trust did not comment when asked if it planned to review the employment status of other bank workers.
Union 'completely failed'
Dr Qureshi also claimed he was let down by the British Medical Association (BMA), which declined to represent him during the employment tribunal.
A letter from a solicitor representing the BMA said he did not believe Dr Qureshi's unfair dismissal claim had "a greater than 50% prospect of success".
Dr Qureshi said: "The BMA, which is supposed to be acting in the best interests of doctors, definitely in my case completely failed in their duty and obligation to me.
"I think there's a bigger issue here where if we have a union like the BMA, it needs to actually do the job that it's there to do."
A spokesperson for the union said the BMA "has a clear process to follow when deciding which cases we can support".
"We are glad Dr Qureshi was able to make progress without the BMA in this instance."
