Polish woman doctor's appeal against unfair dismissal thrown out

Senior judges rejected Polish GP Malgorzata Stadnick-Borowiec’s claims that she suffered racial and sexual discrimination.

They also ordered her to pay the costs of her legal action against the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

Dr Stadnick-Borowiec came to Northern Ireland to work in an out of hours urgent care service after first being recruited as a locum in Letterkenny.

But her contract as a salaried GP was terminated in January 2012 following a series of investigations, disciplinary procedures and suspension by the General Medical Council.

An industrial tribunal which examined her case heard evidence about five alleged incidents of concern from 2006 onwards. These included:

• Self-administering an injection of Tramadol while working alone on an out of hours night shift, claiming it was for a severe headache;

• An alleged breach of procedures over a death certificate which led to queries by the coroner and speculation that a body would have to be exhumed;

• A complaint from an adult patient that the doctor breached confidentiality by speaking to his mother without permission;

• Claims that she refused three times in one night to visit the home of a terminally ill patient whose family were concerned about inadequate pain relief. The woman died the following day.

• Allegations that she administered an inappropriate drug dosage to an elderly patient who was then taken to casualty. The patient was said to have been at risk of death if she had suffered a respiratory episode.

The GMC had imposed conditions on her registration after concluding that her fitness to practise was impaired by deficient professional performance.

Ultimately her dismissal followed a probe undertaken by the National Clinical Assessment Service.

Dr Stadnick-Borowiec then took her case to an industrial tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal, breach of contract and racial and sexual discrimination.

In May 2015 the tribunal unanimously threw out her claims to have been the victim of a widespread conspiracy to end her career.

It found no evidence of women and/or Polish doctors being treated less favourably.

Appearing as a personal litigant, the sacked GP challenged that verdict at the Court of Appeal.

But Lord Justice Weir, sitting with Lord Chief Justice Morgan and Lord Justice Gillen, held her appeal to be “manifestly ill-founded and must fail”.

He expressed regret that she had wasted so much time and effort “unfairly blaming many individuals ... for her misfortunes”.

The judge added: “It is hoped that she will now, even though belatedly, turn her focus inwards so as to seek to recognise and remedy the shortcomings that have made her unsuited for her employment.”