Vicky Russ had accused Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) leaders of carrying out a redundancy process “designed to remove her” during late 2024.
However, a hearing held earlier this year ruled she did not have the skillset to meet the trust’s criteria for the new roles in its restructuring process – a move prompted after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated it “requires improvement” the previous year.
The trust aimed to overcome “chronic underperformance” and wanted people in senior positions to have clinical operational experience, which Ms Russ did not have.
Ms Russ, left, was employed by the trust from October 2020 until April 2025 (Image: NSFT)
The employment tribunal was held in Norwich between March 9 and March 11, with the results of the decision published this month.
The ruling reads: “The claimant queried the need for clinical experience, when in comparable national roles it was not a requirement, and was told it was because of the lack of cohesion to date and the objective of having a team which was clinically and operationally strong.”
Despite that, the former head of service development and transformation did not believe her role was in danger as she thought her job title was listed in the proposed restructure.
Ms Russ – who was one of nine people made redundant in the process – applied for four jobs in the new set up but was not offered any of them.
In the ruling, Judge S. Moore said an “employer cannot reasonably be expected to appoint a candidate to a role who performs significantly worse at interview than other candidates or who fails to meet a minimum threshold, even if the candidate in question is at risk of being made redundant”.
Ms Russ was also not shortlisted for another role because she did not have clinical experience.
Following her dismissal in April 2025, she described the process as a “sham”, accusing the trust of ringfencing roles so she could not apply for them and sidelining her work to be taken on by a consultant.
She said there had been no reduction in the requirements for her role as set out by the trust.
However, the judge said that given the roles Ms Russ was applying for required her to have clinical experience, it was a “substantial and potentially fair reason” for dismissal.
The judge added there was “no evidence that the redundancy process was a sham” or that it was designed to get rid of her.
According to LinkedIn, Ms Russ is the managing director of Norwich-based VR Leadership Coaching and describes herself as a redundancy and leadership coach.