- Dr Verma successfully sued Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Originally based at Whitegate Drive Health Centre just ten minutes from home
- Difficulties driving long distances due to involvement in ‘near miss’
A doctor who was too anxious to drive on busy roads or motorways has won almost £100,000 after the NHS tried to make her take a job 17 miles from her home town.
Dr Madhvi Verma successfully sued Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for disability discrimination and has been awarded £98,849 following a compensation hearing in Manchester.
The doctor, a specialist in sexual health who suffered from lower back pain and sciatica, had been working for the trust since 2006. She was based at the genitourinary clinic at the Whitegate Drive Health Centre from 2011 until 2017, just a ten minute walk from her home.
Having been off work for two years due to work stress, Dr Verma wanted to return to a full-time role based solely at the centre that didn’t include night shifts, after health reports concluded she had difficulties driving long distances due to her involvement in a ‘near miss’ as passenger.
The specialist was instead offered a work plan which involved evening work and required being based in Preston, which is a 40 minute drive from her home, the hearing was told.
Dr Verma was ‘upset’ about the plans, which also required her work at an afternoon clinic in Burnley, as the trust provided taxis for her as she did not want to drive and complained about the arrangements, the tribunal heard.
The tribunal concluded the NHS trust ‘failed in its duty to make reasonable adjustments’ for her conditions.
Employment judge Mark Leach said: ‘Dr Verma would be at a disadvantage if required to undertake this journey [to Preston Royal Hospital], by car on a regular basis, either as a passenger or a driver. There is no reasonable alternative to travel by car.
‘She would be put at a disadvantage if required to work an evening shift, even where she had not been required to fulfil a full working day before then.’
A number of occupational health assessments were carried out as part of her ‘return-to-work strategy’, the tribunal heard.
The health reports concluded Dr Verma had difficulties driving distances, and would not be able to work in the evenings because of her back pain, which she took painkillers for.
She did not like driving on ‘unfamiliar routes’ because she was suffering from anxiety after being involved in a ‘near miss’ as a passenger while her husband was driving an employment tribunal heard
One occupational health report read: ‘Dr Verma is fit to drive a car and reported driving on ‘familiar routes within Blackpool’.
‘However, Dr Verma expressed that she does not feel confident driving a car on “motorways or A roads”.
‘She reported anxiety surrounding a road traffic collision that occurred many years ago.’
Another report stated that ‘the previous road traffic accident has made driving on busy roads difficult’.
The hearing was told that such journeys exacerbated her back pain and ‘sitting in a car for prolonged periods is problematic for [Dr Verma]’.
She began a further period of sickness absence in August 2021, and has not returned to work since, the panel heard.
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