A hospital worker sacked over his phobia of blood and needles is suing the NHS after claiming he wasn’t supported by bosses who told him he wouldn’t have to do anything that triggered his fear.
Andrew Brangwyn, from Coventry, is seeking £140,000 after accusing hospital bosses of not doing enough to help him with a disability.
After years of complaints the occupational therapist says he was left too afraid to visit Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital in case he saw bleeding patients while teaching them carpentry skills.
Andrew Brangwyn says his bosses didn’t do enough to help him, despite them assuring him he wouldn’t have to do anything that triggered his phobia
Hospital bosses assured him he wouldn’t have to attend meetings on the ward or handle patients when collecting them for woodwork classes.
But Mr Brangwyn feared patients might need dressings changed while he was with them because his job description, which changed six times in just two years, never guaranteed he would be excused tasks that might trigger his phobia.
He was so stricken by anxiety he had to go on long-term sick leave in 2012 and was eventually dismissed.
The 65-year-old took South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust to an Employment Tribunal, complaining of disability discrimination.
His claim was rejected.
The judge who ruled on his case said: ‘He had a phobia in respect of blood, injections and needles and, it later emerged, in handling patients.
‘It grew so significant that he found it difficult to contemplate going to parts of the hospital that – unfortunately for someone with his phobic anxieties – he worked in.’
But he has been granted permission to fight on in the Court of Appeal.
Mr Brangwyn worked teaching patients carpentry skills at Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital
Lady Justice Gloster said the trust had arguably failed to make reasonable adjustments to cater for his disability.
Mr Brangwyn’s barrister, Sarah Keogh, told the judge his ‘severe phobia of blood and needles’ only came to light when bosses told him he had to attend ward meetings.
‘After two such meetings he became absent from work and was dismissed,’ she said.
‘His problems arose from seeing patients in their beds and from seeing patients where they have open wounds or are having their dressings changed.’
Promises were made that he wouldn’t have to do anything that might bring on
his phobia, but they were ‘never entirely echoed’ in his job description, she added.
No date was set for the next hearing of Mr Brangwyn’s damages claim.
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