Judge criticises NHS bosses at 'car crash' tribunal

NHS executive John Webster is described as "unconvincing" in a judge's ruling

A judge has called for an investigation into the way an NHS body treated a staff member and for those responsible to be disciplined.

An employment tribunal has ruled that Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) constructively dismissed an assistant director, Clive Rennie.

During the hearing, NHS documents were not disclosed and an attempt was even made to remove the judge.

The CCG's successor organisation has apologised for causing "added stress and anxiety in bringing this case to court".

The case was heard in Norwich

Mr Rennie sought redundancy as an assistant director of integrated commissioning when the CCG was replaced by NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB).

The tribunal heard how John Webster, then director of strategic commissioning at the CCG, had agreed to make Mr Rennie redundant, but this agreement was then reneged on.

Mr Rennie filed a grievance and an investigation was then carried out by an NHS human resources manager, Steve Stavrinou.

The tribunal ordered previous drafts of his investigation report to be disclosed, but was told that they did not exist by the NHS's legal representative.

Judge Postle, who was hearing the tribunal, expressed frustration after the drafts were eventually made available five days into the proceedings.

The draft's author, Mr Stavrinou, who had sat in court throughout, had kept quiet about their existence.

"Mr Stavrinou is a man who finds the truth an alien concept," the judge said.

'Disingenuous and unconvincing'

The final report, which said there had been no agreement between Mr Rennie and Mr Webster, had been altered to suit the respondents, the judge concluded.

"Clearly, there had been a conspiracy all along going on behind the scenes," he wrote.

The tribunal heard that Mr Webster had lied about the agreement.

The judgement stated the tribunal had "found him disingenuous, unconvincing".

Mr Webster admitted under cross examination that his witness statement had been written for him.

"He accepted on a number of occasions it was misleading," the judgement said.

At one point the NHS sought to have the judge removed from the proceedings.

Its application accused him of "inappropriate conduct, tone and disparaging comments towards the respondent and its representatives".

This was rejected.

The judge wrote it was "perhaps a cynical attempt to hijack the proceedings".

The case was heard in 2023 but the judgement has only just been published.

'Scandalous'

Employment lawyer Neil Ashley describes the NHS's conduct in court as "scandalous"

Mr Rennie's counsel, Neil Ashley, told the court he had rarely seen such a "car crash" of a case presented before a tribunal.

He also said the attack on the judge in the form of the application to recuse himself "is because the case is a train wreck".

The conduct of NHS Norfolk and Waveney and its advisors was "scandalous", he added.

When contacted by the BBC, Mr Rennie declined to comment.

Mr Webster is stepping down as deputy chief executive of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust.

He has been approached for a response to the tribunal's findings.

A spokesman for the ICB said it fully accepted the tribunal's findings, adding that it sincerely apologised to Mr Rennie for his "experiences at the former NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group and for the added stress and anxiety in bringing this case to court".

Mr Stavrinou has been contacted via his employers at the time of the hearing, the Arden and Gem Commissioning Support Unit.