Darlington doctor used racial slurs towards two colleagues

Dr Herwig Thibaut made the remarks on two separate occasions, including in a meeting with another doctor and during a conversation with a colleague.

On one occasion, in July of 2021, he described a fellow doctor using a derogatory term for Pakistani people.

Then, when he was being challenged in an appraisal with another doctor that December he used a slur towards an Asian colleague and reportedly became aggressive.

After being found guilty of misconduct before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal last month, he was suspended from the profession for three months.

The panel heard the second incident happened during a meeting when the consultant clinical radiologist, working for the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, was challenged over failing to do enough training.

The doctor running the appraisal, referred to as Dr C, said Thibaut became “agitated” before using the slur.

Dr C said he, “seemed very tense, was scowling very hard and balling his fists in his hands”, and that his “voice and tone were becoming louder and increasingly threatening”.

Dr Thibaut then used a racist slur, saying: “That is what you yellow people are like.”

He then became “agitated and angry” and balled his fists, Dr C said, before Dr Thibaut asked him, “Do you want to fight me?”

When the intimidated doctor tried to call security, he told the hearing Dr Thibaut cancelled the call twice. Thibaut admitted doing this once, but disputed it happened twice.

Dr Thibaut said he had been struggling to balance work and training commitments, particularly due to the covid backlog and was “upset” that Dr C “was not supportive and did not empathise with his position” during the appraisal.

He said he had  “been pushed to the limit in the course of the appraisal”.

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He admitted using the slur, saying he deeply regretted his words and that it happened “in the heat of the moment”.

The tribunal panel concluded his actions were racist and amounted to serious misconduct.

It said his fitness to practice medicine was impaired and gave him a three-month suspension.

A spokesperson for the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said: "This member of staff has now left the Trust."