Racism allegations upheld against former Chesterfield Royal Hospital doctor

The ruling comes after Dr Tom Burton repeatedly called his colleague, referred to as Dr A during the tribunal, as a “donkey s******”: both verbally and in writing.

A panel at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled that the 60-year-old had unlawfully discriminated against his colleague in breach of the Equality Act and that he had further victimised the complainant after raising, what turned out to be, a spurious counter-complaint.

Crucially the panel ruled that the element of racial discrimination applied only to when Dr Burton labelled a water bottle he believed belonged to Dr A with the phrase “donkey s******”. Dr Burton told the tribunal his comments were simply a ‘clumsy joke’ gone wrong and blamed a ‘culture of profane banter in the emergency department’ at the time.

As reported, the comments took place over a three day period in November 2020 with Dr A raising a formal complaint to hospital management the following month.

He told an internal hospital investigation: “Once is fine, twice you can let it pass but being paraded as a donkey s****** is a step too far.”

The panel heard that, several months after being informed he was the subject of a formal complaint, Dr Burton raised concerns over Dr A’s conduct and questioned whether he was working double shifts as well as concerns over his holiday periods and making reference to Dr A’s fitness to practise.

Dr Burton told hospital staff that he didn’t believe Dr A was “good value for money” and labelled him an “agent provocateur”. This then prompted an internal investigation which found there was ‘no evidence’ to support the claims.

The doctor admitted that the incidents took place but told the tribunal they weren’t racially motivated or designed to create a hostile working environment - he said the comments were simply a “clumsy joke”.

Mr Day, Dr Burton’s legal representative, said his client had simply “attempted a joke” and that he was “not a man of great social skills” and “prone to put his foot in”.

He added: “It would be positively mad for (Dr Burton) to engage in racist abuse in the middle of the day, for no reason, in front of colleagues.”

The tribunal heard there was a “culture of banter” at the hospital at the time the comments were made and the complainant has accepted another member of staff would call him “speedy Gonzales”. He told the panel this was “very different” to the comments made by Dr Burton and did not “attack (his) culture”.

Dr Burton conceded he was “shocked” by his own comments and Kathyrn Johnson, for the NMC, said: “even if there was that issue or that culture, you can conclude the comments attributed to Dr Burton did cross the line. Dr Burton says they were extreme and he was shocked (so) you can conclude that those comments certainly weren’t the norm.”

The tribunal continues with the panel now determining whether Dr Burton’s fitness to practise is impaired and any potential sanction.