An experienced diabetes specialist nurse who was left in a “state of stress, distress and poor health” due to an issue with a work colleague has won an employment tribunal.
Susan Hamilton has been awarded £41,000 from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust after proving she was constructively unfairly dismissed.
“Not only was it difficult on a professional level, but it was extremely draining on a personal level”
Susan Hamilton
Ms Hamilton joined the trust in 2012 as a band 7 diabetes specialist nurse, and left in January 2022 after having been signed off work with stress.
The issues date back to 2018, when a “difficult” professional relationship between her and a dietitian colleague, Abdool Nayeck, formed.
In September of that year, a patient suffering from hypoglycaemia– low blood sugar levels – collapsed at home.
After Ms Hamilton and Mr Nayeck disagreed over how to treat the patient, he asked if she was questioning his competency, which she said she was due to the “patient safety risk” his course of action posed, in her view.
The clash between the two was escalated to managers, who took Ms Hamilton’s side and stated that it should be a “learning” incident and that “steps” would be taken to “deal” with the colleague’s behaviour.
After this, Ms Hamilton told the tribunal that the colleague was “noticeably” more dismissive of her and treated her poorly.
He ignored morning greetings from her, turned away from her when she presented at meetings and stopped making tea for her when it was his turn to make the rounds.
In 2019, Ms Hamilton misplaced a work-related book she owned which had her name written in it. She found it inside a cupboard used by Mr Nayeck with her name rubbed out, and his written over it.
An informal mediation meeting was held at a higher-up at the trust dealing with the breakdown in relationship noted that the dietician had become “quite personal” towards Ms Hamilton and had said that he “did not like her”.
Formal mediation, which was significantly delayed, then took place while Ms Hamilton and her colleague continued to have disagreements over communication styles and how to treat their patients.
Ms Hamilton told the tribunal: “I regularly spoke with [a senior colleague] about how difficult I was finding working with [the dietitian].
“Not only was it difficult on a professional level, but it was extremely draining on a personal level as it was quite clear to me that he still harboured some sort of personal issue against me.”
In 2020, Mr Nayeck accused Ms Hamilton of bullying her in a complaint which was not upheld. She told the tribunal that she was frustrated at how this investigation was carried out, as it did not look into the behaviour exhibited towards her.
She told the tribunal: “I tried very hard to build a better relationship with Abdool, particularly following mediation.
“I have offered him tea or coffee, have tried to talk to him about eg how he enjoyed his Eid celebrations… I have not had any reciprocal treatment from Abdool.”
She was signed off with work-related stress in December 2020, returning to work the following month but continuing to complain that she did not feel her concerns of “targeted and intimidating behaviour” were being taken seriously.
An “action plan” was formed in March 2021 to improve her professional relationship with her colleague, but Ms Hamilton felt she was given no information about which aspects of her behaviour were wrong and needed to be altered.
In June 2021, she submitted a formal grievance which included that she felt the poor behaviour towards her was being “tolerated” by her employer; this grievance was largely upheld.
She was once again signed off with work-related stress in August 2021, before resigning in January 2022 having felt none of her concerns were being addressed during that time.
Ms Hamilton described a “a breach of contract by the trust” and a “total breakdown of trust and confidence” which made her feel she had been constructively dismissed.
In her resignation note, she said: “The situation I have been put in by the trust has caused both significant stress and anxiety for which I have had to seek professional ongoing help.
“This has been caused as a direct consequence of the actions of and poor management by the trust.”
She was described by employment judge Kathryn Ramsden as a “gifted” nurse who loved her job, and who was “immensely distressed” about the processes she went through due to her employer.
“A nurse who had worked for the respondent for more than nine years had been brought to such a state of stress, distress and poor health by the respondent’s failure to respond to Mr Nayeck’s behaviour and to act on the grievance appeal panel’s recommendations that she could not take any more,” added Ms Ramsden.
Her claim of constructive dismissal was successful and the trust was ordered to pay £41,000.
Following the publication of the outcome, a trust spokesperson told Nursing Times that the organisation had “worked hard” to strengthen support for its staff who raise concerns.
These measures included training for line managers on how to help with grievances and disciplinary proceedings and supporting managers on having “difficult conversations” with staff.
