A doctor who was dismissed by the NHS after raising concerns about how a hospital was treating patients has been awarded £2.5m compensation.

Dr Raj Mattu was a cardiologist at University Hospital Coventry in Walsgrave. He became alarmed that overcrowding was leading to patient deaths.

He raised his concerns with the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. He claimed it failed to respond appropriately so he spoke to the BBC.

Dr Mattu said this led to him being subjected to a “witch hunt” by the trust. He was suspended on full pay for eight years before being dismissed in 2010.

The Employment Tribunal was told that the trust had made more than 200 allegations against Dr Mattu to the General Medical Council. All of them were rejected.

The tribunal rejected Dr Mattu’s claim of race discrimination but ruled that he had been unfairly dismissed and ordered the trust to pay him £1.3m net in compensation. It also ordered the trust to pay his tax and National Insurance contributions, making a total bill of £2.5m.

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