AN EAST Lancashire liver surgeon whose case was raised in Parliament is expecting to hear if his battle to clear his name has been successful in the next two weeks.

On Monday, a special panel at the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust’s Royal Blackburn headquarters heard his appeal against his dismissal.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Aditya Agrawal was sacked from his post at the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General on July 9. He had been been suspended from his £70,000-plus-a-year consultant’s post since 2011.

The 43-year-old believes he was suspended and then dismissed because he expressed concerns about patient safety and medical workloads.

If Monday’s appeal fails to reinstate him, he has leave to take his case to an employment tribunal in Manchester in February on grounds of racial discrimination, punishment for ‘whistleblowing’ and unfair dismissal.

His salary was paid until July 28.

Mr Agrawal contacted his Labour MP in Manchester Central, Lucy Powell, as well as former Tory minister and Worthing West MP Sir Peter Bottomley.

During Mr Agrawal’s suspension, Sir Peter raised the case in the House of Commons on June 2.

He told ministers: “I want to mention the case of a surgeon, Mr Aditya Agrawal.

“He is one of the doctors of black and ethnic minority origin who seem to be treated differently from people who are white. I am not saying that in his case it is purely racial discrimination.

“There is something very fishy and wrong going on.”

Sir Peter, who accompanied Mr Agrawal to Monday’s hearing, said: “The hospital trust would be well advised to take a conciliatory approach.

“The clinician concerned spoke out over his concerns for patient safety.”

The dismissal letter from the trust to Mr Agrawal said: “We find that there has been a breakdown in working relationships between you and your colleagues.

“We did not consider that the reason for the breakdown which has led to your dismissal was related either to your race or to your raising genuine clinical concerns in good faith.”

Mr Agrawalsaid: “I raised concerns about patient safety and working practices.

“It was my first consultant post and a dream come true but it has turned into a nightmare.

“I want to get my career back on track, and restore my good name.”

Trust human resources director Kevin Moynes said:“The public can be assured that we always put the care and safety of patients at the centre all decisions.”