Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust has been ordered to pay more than £200,000 to a former nurse after an employment tribunal found it failed to make reasonable adjustments following a serious brain injury.
The nurse, who is referred to as Anthony and chose to remain anonymous, had worked for the NHS for nearly 25 years when he suffered a brain haemorrhage in December 2016.
Following a 17-month absence, he returned to work in May 2018 but experienced memory issues and other cognitive difficulties. In October 2019, he went off sick again as his GP assessed his ongoing health concerns.
Reasonable adjustments delayed
According to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), who supported Anthony throughout the legal process, he remained committed to returning to work. He resumed duties in February 2020 and submitted an Access to Work report that identified a range of adjustments required under the Equality Act. Despite this, the trust delayed implementation of these recommendations until August 2020, only completing the process in December that year – ten months after his return.
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Although the Access to Work assessment included the need for specific tools such as memory aids and dictation software, Anthony said these were not provided promptly. When they did arrive, he received no training in their use. At the same time, he was moved back into a community role despite earlier agreement that he would not be assigned named nurse or coordinator duties.
He also reported being left alone with patients when policy required him to be supported by another registered nurse.
‘I couldn’t do my job’
Anthony had agreed with his colleagues that if he could not safely continue his role, he would step back. It was colleagues who first noticed errors in his paperwork, prompting him to take further leave and seek advice.
After a second return to work, adjustments were promised but either delayed or never delivered, leading to a deterioration in his mental health and a final absence from work.
“I developed social anxiety and social phobia,” Anthony said. “I found it extremely difficult to leave the house, to socialise or be in public spaces.” He added that he was “completely overwhelmed” and lost confidence.
“I couldn’t do my job,” he said. Following further absence and ongoing challenges at work, Anthony was signed off permanently.
Legal action
After the trust failed to implement the Access to Work recommendations and breached agreed adjustments, Anthony turned to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) for legal aid. RCN Senior Legal Officer Ferguson Doyle confirmed that the tribunal found the trust failed to make reasonable adjustments, causing injury and loss.
“The employer failed to make reasonable adjustments in accordance with their statutory obligations under the Equality Act 2010, which caused the member to suffer an injury, forcing him to retire through ill health earlier than he otherwise would have done,” said Doyle.
He added that Anthony’s treatment at work had a lasting impact on his health and quality of life, giving the legal team strong grounds to pursue a case of disability discrimination against the NHS trust.
The ruling
The employment tribunal concluded that the trust’s failure to meet its legal obligations under the Equality Act led directly to his inability to return to work and ultimately to his early retirement due to ill health.
The compensation awarded, which totals just over £200,000, includes injury to feelings, personal injury, loss of earnings both past and future, pension loss and the cost of current and potential future care. The tribunal acknowledged the trust’s role in contributing to Anthony’s deteriorating mental health and early exit from a long NHS career.
“The trust management ruined the last years of the career I loved due to their failure in implementing several of their own policies,” Anthony said. “I hope lessons will be learnt so that staff are treated more fairly in the future.”
