Payout for former hospital chief

A former hospital chief has been awarded more than £67,000 compensation after he was unfairly dismissed.

John Watkinson, the former chief executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT), claimed unfair dismissal against the Trust after being sacked. He argued that he lost his job after standing in the way of plans to move some cancer services and surgery from Truro to Plymouth.

Mr Watkinson has been awarded an interim payout of £67,250 – the final sum has yet to be decided.

As noted, an employment tribunal found that he was unfairly dismissed as a result of a statement he made to the hospital board in 2008 suggesting the NHS should have held a public consultation over the plans to move the services.

His dismissal was "automatically… procedurally and substantively unfair," the tribunal ruled.

Although the Trust has admitted unfair dismissal, it is appealing against the tribunal decision ruling that Mr Watkinson was a whistleblower.

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