Health reporter

Last updated 15:01, Thursday, 09 October 2008

A man accused of assaulting a senior nurse and telling her she did not fit in because of her race has issued an outright denial.

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Sarina Saiger: Insists her boss grabbed her

North Cumbria’s ex-director of nursing, Bruce Skilbeck, yesterday took to the witness stand at a high-profile tribunal.

His former assistant Sarina Saiger claims he told her during an appraisal that she was the “wrong colour and culture” for Cumbria.

She also alleges he physically assaulted her.

The accusations are part of a wider claim against the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital.

Dr Saiger, who worked for the trust from June 2005 to May this year, claims bosses subjected her to a campaign of racial discrimination, harassment, victimisation and unfair dismissal.

Now in its fifth week, a tribunal in Newcastle previously heard Dr Saiger, who is of mixed race, accuse Mr Skilbeck of making racial comments during an appraisal in 2005.

The former assistant director of nursing also alleges, during an argument in May 2007, he grabbed her arm so hard when she refused to obey his orders he left a hand-shaped bruise.

The trust denies all the accusations, claiming Dr Saiger made them up to get financial compensation.

The tribunal heard that although Dr Saiger reported the alleged assault to the police, he was never arrested and no further action taken.

A tape of his interview was played to the hearing, in which he completely denied making physical contact with Dr Saiger.

He explained the incident happened on the day he was due to retire from the trust. As part of the handover, his successor’s new secretary needed access to computers, including the electronic diaries of all assistant directors of nursing. However, as Dr Saiger had previous personal issues with the secretary, she refused.

He wanted to resolve the issue so interrupted her training session.

He agrees an argument ensued and he twice threatened to suspend her, but said he was never shaking with rage as she claims.

He added she eventually agreed to his request.

“I never came into any kind of physical contact whatsoever. The nearest I got to her was when I opened the door for her,” he said.

“I have never assaulted anyone in my life, let alone in this incident.”

Mr Skilbeck continued to deny the allegations even after photos of her alleged injuries were shown to him. He added she did not mention these injuries or the alleged assault in the meeting that followed.

He went on to refute claims he made comments about her race. He claimed during the appraisal the pair had a discussion about her career ambitions.

He told the court Dr Saiger was a very competent senior nurse, with the potential to go all the way. But he had concerns about her personal approach to colleagues, saying she denigrated others to promote herself.

He said he wanted to help address these matters, claiming that at the time he felt she could become the next director of nursing.

Mr Skilbeck said he felt many of these problems stemmed from her management training in the north east, where the style is more upfront and robust than in the north west.

He said that was the only time he mentioned culture, referring to management culture, and in no way did it regard race.

“At no point in 27 years in the NHS have I ever said to anyone that they were the wrong colour, and I’ve worked with just about every ethnic group you can imagine,” he said.

Mr Skilbeck went on to insist that following the alleged incident, which she didn’t report for some months, he continued to work closely with Dr Saiger and said they had a good personal relationship. He claims she even bought him a book about unsung heroes after this alleged incident, although she insists she gave him it the previous year.

But despite Mr Skilbeck’s denial, barrister Geoff Knowles, acting for Dr Saiger, cast doubt on his insistence that he never bullied or intimidated anyone. He referred to an alleged incident where he left a union representative shaking with fear – something Mr Skilbeck strongly denies.

The hearing continues.