Trust boss gave misleading information to GMC about consultant who was unfairly dismissed

A large NHS teaching trust has lost an appeal against a damning employment tribunal judgment that found evidence of “bias and collusion at a senior management level” against a consultant who was unfairly dismissed.1

The 2018 employment tribunal, which ruled that consultant ophthalmic surgeon Tristan Reuser had been unfairly and wrongfully dismissed, found that David Rosser, now chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, had given “inaccurate and misleading” information about Reuser to the General Medical Council.2

At the employment appeal tribunal, deputy High Court judge Naomi Ellenbogen QC dismissed the trust’s appeal on all six grounds. She allowed a cross appeal by Reuser against the tribunal’s ruling that his whistleblowing was not the reason for his dismissal and sent the case back to the original tribunal for it to look at the question again.

The dismissal took place when Reuser worked for the …