Sacked NHS whistleblower awarded £1.22m damages after 15-year legal battle

An NHS whistleblower who was unfairly sacked and "vilified and bullied" after exposing safety concerns at a hospital he worked in has been awarded £1.22 million in damages after a 15-year legal battle.

Cardiologist Raj Mattu claimed he had been "vilified and bullied" and subjected to a 12-year "witch hunt" after making the claims at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry in 2001.

Dr Mattu publicly exposed overcrowding on wards and fears for patient safety at the hospital in 2001.

A year later, the £70,000-a-year doctor was suspended by the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust on full pay after being accused of bullying.

He was sacked in 2010 but a Birmingham Employment Tribunal ruled that he had been unfairly dismissed.

The tribunal found that Dr Mattu was a whistleblower and had been "subjected to detriments" because of this, but they had been presented "out of time" and therefore could not be considered as part of the case.

But it found the Trust was at fault by holding a disciplinary hearing against Dr Mattu while he was in hospital and could not attend.

Describing his treatment by the Trust as a "tragedy", Dr Mattu said his case started as far back as 1998 when he raised serious concerns with the Trust.

"These concerns progress and culminate in my publicly blowing the whistle regarding lies told by the Trust in an attempt to cover up the avoidable deaths of patients," he added.

But he claimed his disclosures "fell on deaf ears and when I made them public resulted in a witch-hunt" to oust him.

A review into the treatment of whistleblowers in the NHS last year found 'shocking' evidence of bullying leading to legislation being fast-tracked in response.