Professor Tanweer Ahmed worked as a clinical director at the trust from 1 October 2003 to 6 December 2019.

An employment tribunal approved his claim in May 2022 with the trust being instructed to pay an initial remedy of £250k in March 2025. This was increased to £450k this month.

In making his initial complaint, Prof Ahmed was accused of ‘playing the race card' by the trust's director of human resources Martin Rayson after he was accused of bullying and harassment by research manager Helen Ayre in June 2018.

The complaint against Prof Ahmed was dismissed as relying heavily on hearsay.

Chief executive of Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals Group (LCHG) Professor Karen Dunderdale said: 'We accept the tribunal's finding, at the initial liability hearing, that we made mistakes in how we approached the investigation into the bullying complaints raised against Professor Ahmed. We would like to apologise to Professor Ahmed for our failings in our internal process.  

‘The issues in this case date back to 2018, and we believe that we have moved on significantly as an organisation in the intervening seven years since these matters were first raised.    

‘As a matter of course, we take a zero-tolerance approach to discriminatory behaviour of any kind, and we aim to create a culture where discrimination and unfair treatment is dealt with swiftly and effectively.   

‘This is demonstrated through a range of actions and measures that we have taken, including the launch of the Leading Inclusively with Cultural Intelligence Programme, and the trust being in the top 10 most improved trusts in the country for Freedom to Speak Up in 2022.  

‘Regarding the remedy award, we can reassure our staff, patients and public that we will not allow the payment of this to negatively impact patient care or services.'