Relief of sacked Wakefield midwife after winning appeal: More than 40,000 signed petition backing her

A MIDWIFE sacked from Wakefield's Pinderfields Hospital has won an appeal against her dismissal after more than 40,000 people signed  an online petition calling for her to be reinstated.
Jane GreavesJane Greaves
Jane Greaves

Jane Greaves, a midwife for 16-years, said she felt ‘relief’ on Thursday night after a panel of senior managers at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust overturned last month’s decision to sack her.

Miss Greaves, 46, said she was last off work with a kidney infection she claims she contracted at Pinderfields Hospital’s birth centre - which doesn’t have a staff toilet.She said low staffing levels meant she was unable to leave the unit to go to the toilet during 12-hour shifts.

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Miss Greaves She said she had informed management at least 49 times about problems of high workload and not enough staff at the unit.

Jane GreavesJane Greaves
Jane Greaves

She said she was ill after working on December 31 and went to A&E at Pinderfields and was sent to see a urologist, who said she was not emptying her bladder often enough and had contracted a kidney infection.

She was given a seven-day sick note.

Miss Greaves, who worked as a nurse at the trust for two years before becoming a midwife, said she had a total of 14 days off sick in the 12 months from January 2017 to January 2018.

On March 15 she was told she was being dismissed immediately due to her sickness record.

Jane GreavesJane Greaves
Jane Greaves
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After the YEP covered the story an online petition launched by a colleague at change.org calling for her to be reinstated attracted more than 40,000 signatures.

Miss Greaves said after Thursday’s appeal: “I was relieved. I didn’t do anything wrong. It has been harrowing and life-changing. I can’t thank everybody enough for their support.”

Adrian O’Malley of Unison had branded the trust’s decision to sack Miss Greaves as “outrageous.”

He said after she was reinstated: “Unison welcomes the trust’s decision and will be working with the trust to address the issues raised on the birth centre.”

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Trudie Davies, chief operating officer, at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “As per trust policy, Miss Greaves lodged an appeal against her dismissal which was heard by a panel of senior managers within the organisation.

“After careful consideration, it was decided that the sanction applied to Miss Greaves be downgraded in order to allow her to return to work.“In all decision making the safety of our patients remained our prime concern and it is important to us that we have a reliable workforce to provide consistent and safe care to patients.

"We look forward to Miss Greaves returning to the Trust to support this aim.”

Adrian O’Malley of Unison said after Miss Greaves was sacked last month: “Jane’s dismissal is the most unjust I have witnessed in over 35 years as a steward at Pinderfields Hospital.

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“She has registered 49 times that she has been so busy she could not take a break on her 12 hour night shifts.

“She works on a department where there is no staff toilet and was off sick due to a urinary infection which led to her attending the emergency department.

“Her record of 14 calendar days off in the last 12 months is better than the Trust average and still they sacked her.

“Its absolutely outrageous that a trust which is advertising for midwives has dismissed a dedicated member of staff of 18 years standing.”