THE former chief medical officer of the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust believes working relationships broke down beyond repair for a sacked doctor, exposing the trust and “potentially patients to unacceptable risk”.

Dr Lara Alloway, ex-chief medical officer at the trust, told an employment tribunal that “there had been a breakdown in normal relations for clinical management and a loss of trust and confidence” in consultant and obstetrician and gynaecologist Martyn Pitman.

The two-week hearing at Southampton Magistrates Court, which started on Monday, September 25, concerns whistleblowing disclosures made by Mr Pitman between March 2019 and July 2021, and the resulting detriments he claims he suffered.

The consultant was fired from his role of 20 years at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester earlier this year.

READ MORE: Martyn Pitman denies NHS trust's allegations of bullying at tribunal

Dr Alloway was appointed as the case officer for an investigation into the midwifery consultant, following a formal grievance submitted against him by a member of the senior midwifery team (SMT) in April 2019.

The former chief medical officer said she continued to receive complaints about Mr Pitman throughout the process and believes she was supportive of him and accommodating of his requests to ease his return to work.

In a statement produced to the tribunal, Dr Alloway outlined that the investigation was to look into:

  1. The allegations of bullying and harassment made against Mr Pitman by members of the senior midwifery team (SMT) as referred to in the letter dated April 21, 2019;
  2. The impact of alleged poor working relationships and communication between Mr Pitman and SMT on maternity care in RHCH;
  3. What if any, previous attempts have been made to address alleged difficult interactions between Mr Pitman and senior midwifery colleagues, and their effectiveness.

The investigation was concluded in September 2019 and found that there was “no evidence of deliberate bullying/harassment but evidence of Mr Pitman’s prevailing style of communication is a challenge to many, particularly those working in non-clinical roles in the SMT, which caused a significant degree of negative impact on colleagues' well-being.

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Despite the bullying allegations being unfounded, when asked by Mr Pitman’s lawyer Jack Mitchell if she thought Mr Pitman’s behaviour could be classed as bullying, she replied “yes”.

She said: "Although he did not set out to bully, I thought there was a case to answer. He is a very well respected clinician but there were concerns with his communication and that impact on people.

"The definition of a bully is having a negative impact even if not intended. There were clear problems which were causing an extremely negative impact."

Her statement concluded: "There had been a breakdown in normal relations for clinical management and a loss of trust and confidence which exposed the trust, and potentially patients to unacceptable risk.

"Taking into account the interventions that had already been attempted without successful resolution, it was felt that the situation was unlikely to be recoverable."

Mr Pitman claims he whistle blew on staff and patient safety, with many of the issues stemming from a lack of midwives and clinical support from the senior midwifery team.

READ ALSO: Sacked hospital doctor faces managers who dismissed him in tribunal

Speaking to the tribunal, Dr Alloway reinforced that the increase in managerial roles was down to a national recommendation and that this didn't mean there were therefore fewer working in clinical roles.

She said: "It's not a direct relationship between more managers and less clinical roles.

“I have never been aware of reducing the number of staff at all in this service. If we look at the number of midwives it has increased because people should have one-to-one care to improve the clinical role of the service.”

Dr Alloway denied that low staffing was due to saving money and said that any issues would have been more likely a result of sickness and vacancies.

Mr Mitchell will continue cross-examining Dr Alloway on Tuesday, October 3 before Alex Whitfield, chief executive of the trust, is called to the witness stand.

The hearing is due to finish on Friday, October 6.

A separate claim of unfair dismissal will be addressed at a new hearing at a later date.