Bullied NHS manager awarded £150,000 at tribunal

A bullied NHS manager who suffered a nervous breakdown has been awarded £150,000 in compensation, after the union Unison took up her case.

The union took up Nanette Bowen’s case after she was harassed over a three-year period.

The 55-year-old from Llanelli, Wales, had worked at the Price Phillip Hospital for 28 years, working her way up the ranks from porter to information manager, reporting directly to the chief executive.

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In a case at Swansea County Court, Carmarthenshire NHS Trust was found liable after, in 2000, Bowen acquired a new boss who made sexual innuendos towards her and harassed her. This caused Bowen stress and panic attacks, leading to her being signed off sick and, on one occasion, being rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack.

Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said: “The compensation will go some way towards her loss of earnings, but it will never make up for years of suffering and the loss of her old life.”