A whistleblower doctor who alleges he was sacked by Croydon’s NHS trust for raising concerns about patient safety could face a fresh employment tribunal after a senior judge upheld an appeal against a ruling he had been unlawfully dismissed.

Dr Kevin Beatt was fired from his position as a consultant cardiologist at Croydon University Hospital in 2012 and looked set to be awarded a large financial settlement after winning an unfair dismissal claim at a tribunal two years later.

But Honour Judge Peter Clark said Croydon Employment Tribunal’s damning 2014 judgment, which concluded Dr Beatt was victimised by Croydon Health Services (CHS) for flagging concerns about a patient’s death, was "not properly reasoned".

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In a ruling published last week following a hearing at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in September, the judge noted “inconsistency” in the Croydon tribunal’s decision-making and recommended a new tribunal be convened.

CHS sacked Dr Beatt after in September 2012 after he raised the alarm about staffing shortages, inadequate equipment and workplace bullying, with some of his comments made at the inquest into the death of a patient who died during a routine operation.

The NHS trust maintained the doctor, who headed the hospital’s well-regarded department for interventional heart procedures from 2007, was sacked for gross misconduct “for making unsubstantiated and unproven allegations of an unsafe service”.

But Dr Beatt argued he lost his job as the trust attempted to cover up failings.

The 2014 tribunal sided with him, concluding there was “no consistent evidence” of misconduct on his part and that the trust’s chief executive John Goulston had “failed to carry out a fair process”.

However, Honour Judge Clark said: “What is signally missing from these extensive reasons is an analysis leading to the conclusion [of a]… false and a deliberate attempt to mislead the Employment Tribunal as to the true reason for dismissal.”

Dr Beatt told the Croydon Guardian he was considering appealing the ruling, which comes after Croydon Health Services hired a top barrister on £5,000 a day to help fight its case.

He said: “It seems extraordinary that I should have to go back to another hearing because the judge made a mistake. That’s just ridiculous.

"The trust get public funding and I have to do it myself. It’s just not any sort of justice at at all.”

A CHS spokesman said: “After careful consideration, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld the Trust’s appeal.

“There will be no further comment at this stage.”