Indian-origin doctor in Britain reinstated

An Indian-origin cardiologist in Britain was unfairly sacked after he raised concerns about the safety of patients and should be reinstated, a tribunal has ruled.

Raj Mattu was "vilified and bullied" after he publicly exposed overcrowding and fears for patient safety at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry, claiming that there may have been avoidable deaths as a result, the Guardian reported.

Mattu's lawyer told the tribunal that the doctor was subjected to a year-long "witch hunt" by the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust following the disclosures.

Mattu said he felt "vindicated" by the tribunal's decision but warned that there was insufficient protection available for whistleblowers in the NHS and said.

A year after he raised the concerns, Mattu, who was on a 70,000 pounds salary, was suspended on full pay after being accused of bullying. He was dismissed in 2010, the report stated.

Mattu said that the hospital's head of security had been asked to monitor him following his decision to publicly uncover the failings. The individual was tasked with trying to find "as much information to use against me as possible".

"I was accused of fraud, I was accused of sexual impropriety, assaults, not doing my duties and so on," he was quoted as saying.

The Birmingham Employment Tribunal cleared him of wrongdoing and ruled that the trust unfairly dismissed him and subjected him to "detriments" because he was a whistleblower.

--Indo-Asian News Service

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