A mother with aggressive breast cancer says she cried more when she was sacked by the NHS than she did during months of gruelling treatment. Gemma Crispin, 52, lost her job after almost 10 months off sick, having undergone chemotherapy and a mastectomy.
The former paediatric nurse from Ashford, who worked for the NHS for 16 years, says she intended to return to work once she recovered. But Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) dismissed her in April, concluding it could no longer accommodate her absence.
“I probably cried more about what was going on with that situation than I did all the time I was unwell,” said mum of three Gemma. “I feel like cancer has robbed so much from me, and it's taken my job, too.”
Diagnosis and treatment
Gemma was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer in June last year. 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.
She has since undergone radiotherapy and further chemotherapy, with treatment expected to finish on November 16. By then, the mum will have endured a total of 18 rounds of chemotherapy and 15 sessions of radiotherapy.
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. “It nearly killed me,” she said. “I couldn't help having all the side effects. I just happened to be one of the people that didn't cope well with it.”
Career and dismissal process
Gemma previously worked at Maidstone Hospital and the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford before taking a break from nursing. She returned during the Covid pandemic to administer vaccinations in Folkestone, later joining Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust's school immunisation team.
But just a week after her mastectomy, she says her manager contacted her to arrange an informal meeting to discuss her sick leave. They met three weeks after surgery at Dobbies Garden Centre in Ashford.
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. Then, at a meeting on March 16, two days before starting radiotherapy, she learned the trust could 'no longer sustain her absence'.
“There was no warning. I had no warning at all that this would be the outcome,” she said. Correspondence confirms the trust believed it could no longer keep her position open because she was unlikely to return until November at the earliest.
However, the same letter acknowledged her “understandable shock at the direction of the process” and concerns about limited contact during her absence. A manager promised to review how her case had been handled to ensure lessons were learned.
Disputed departure and appeal
Gemma subsequently agreed to a paper-based process rather than attending a formal capability hearing. But her dismissal letter, dated April 17, described her departure as a “mutually agreed end” to her employment. She disputes that description, insisting she never agreed to leave her job.
“My plan was always to go back to work [after I recovered],” she said. “There were lots of things, obviously, when you're given a diagnosis of cancer that you think about. I never, ever thought that my job would be one of the things I'd have to worry about.”
In correspondence, 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. Her dismissal was upheld following an appeal in June.
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. “It's a massive financial strain,” she said. “I 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. But everything's been pulled from under me.”
A KCHFT spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment on individual employment matters.
“However, 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’ future employment.”
