A mum battling aggressive breast cancer says she cried more over being sacked by the NHS than she did during months of gruelling treatment.<\/p>\n
Gemma Crispin, 52, from Ashford, lost her job after almost 10 months off sick, having undergone chemotherapy and a mastectomy.<\/p>\n
Gemma Crispin was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer last year. Picture: Gemma Crispin<\/p>\n
The former paediatric nurse, who worked for the NHS for 16 years in total, says she had always intended to return to work once she recovered.<\/p>\n
But Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) dismissed her in April, concluding it could no longer accommodate her absence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI probably cried more about what was going on with that situation than I did all the time I was unwell,\u201d Gemma, a mum of three, told KentOnline.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like cancer has robbed so much from me, and it’s taken my job, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gemma was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer in June last year, which she describes as being just one stage away from stage four.<\/p>\n
Her cancer was initially inoperable, meaning she had to undergo six rounds of chemotherapy before surgeons could remove her left breast on New Year’s Eve.<\/p>\n
She has since undergone radiotherapy and further chemotherapy, with treatment expected to finish on November 16.<\/p>\n
By then, the mum will have endured a total of 18 rounds of chemotherapy and 15 sessions of radiotherapy.<\/p>\n
The treatment has taken a devastating toll, with Gemma even hospitalised for a week after suffering a severe reaction to one round of the chemotherapy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt nearly killed me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gemma Crispin was sacked from her NHS job while off sick battling breast cancer. Picture: Gemma Crispin<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn’t help having all the side effects. I just happened to be one of the people that didn’t cope well with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gemma previously worked at Maidstone Hospital and the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford before taking a break from nursing.<\/p>\n
She returned during the Covid pandemic to administer vaccinations in Folkestone, later joining KCHFT’s school immunisation team.<\/p>\n
But just a week after her mastectomy, she says her manager contacted her to arrange an informal meeting to discuss her sick leave.<\/p>\n
They met three weeks after surgery at Dobbies Garden Centre in Ashford, where Gemma was questioned about when she expected to return and \u201ccame away feeling a bit uncomfortable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Feeling pressured about her time away from work, Gemma applied for a voluntary resignation scheme offered by the trust in February, but says she was rejected because she was on sick leave.<\/p>\n
Gemma Crispin has gone through nearly three dozen treatments during her fight against breast cancer. Picture: Gemma Crispin<\/p>\n
Then, at a meeting on March 16, just two days before starting radiotherapy, she learned the trust could no longer sustain her absence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no warning. I had no warning at all that this would be the outcome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Correspondence seen by KentOnline confirms the trust believed it could no longer keep her position open because she was unlikely to return until November at the earliest.<\/p>\n
However, the same letter acknowledged her \u201cunderstandable shock at the direction of the process\u201d and concerns about limited contact during her absence.<\/p>\n
A manager promised to review how her case had been handled to ensure lessons were learned.<\/p>\n
Gemma subsequently agreed to a paper-based process rather than attending a formal capability hearing.<\/p>\n
But her dismissal letter, dated April 17, described her departure as a \u201cmutually agreed end\u201d to her employment.<\/p>\n
Gemma Crispin with husband Toby. Picture: Gemma Crispin<\/p>\n
She disputes that description, insisting she never agreed to leave her job.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy plan was always to go back to work [after I recovered],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were lots of things, obviously, when you’re given a diagnosis of cancer that you think about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never, ever thought that my job would be one of the things I’d have to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n
In correspondence \u2013 seen by KentOnline \u2013 , the trust said occupational health advisers had found her unfit for work in any capacity, while alternative roles and reasonable adjustments had been considered but deemed unviable.<\/p>\n
Her dismissal was upheld following an appeal in June.<\/p>\n
Gemma has since consulted an employment solicitor, who she says believed she had a strong case, but she cannot face the financial and emotional toll of pursuing further action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a massive financial strain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gemma Crispin with her three children: William, Otto and Harriet. Picture: Gemma Crispin<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like now I’m coming to the end of my treatment, where I would have been thinking I’m going to go back to some sort of normal life.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut everything’s been pulled from under me.\u201d<\/p>\n
KentOnline asked KCHFT why Gemma’s departure was described as mutually agreed and whether the promised review of her case had taken place.<\/p>\n
The trust did not address those specific questions.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said: \u201cWe are unable to comment on individual employment matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we can confirm that Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust always carefully considers all relevant individual information and follows its policies and procedures before reaching decisions about individuals\u2019 future employment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mum battling aggressive breast cancer says she cried more over being sacked by the NHS than she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3859,59,102,192,191,194,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-802447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ashford","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-human-interest","tag-kent","tag-syndicate","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}