In Britain, "Paki" is a very bad word but "Sub-continentals" is normally OK.  But not this time, apparently

The senior surgeon clearly had a low opinion of doctors from the Asian sub-continent but he was not being unreasonable in that.  "Overseas trained" doctors in Britain attract four times the rate of official complaints of British doctors.  They often are problem people of low competence. But facts take second place to speech correctness in Britain these days

A leading NHS surgeon is fighting to save his career after being accused of racism when he referred to a group of junior Asian colleagues as 'sub-continent elements'.

Clinical director Peter Hale, 58, claimed three Pakistani doctors and one Indian medic who worked under him were a 'highly egocentric group' and 'their own worst enemy' after they told him they were being treated 'like slaves.'

He also claimed one of them needed 'a good slap'.

The comments were made after a heated discussion about rota changes at a hospital looked after by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust.

When the Asian doctors left the room following the meeting, Mr Hale offered to place a £50 bet that one would agree to work a particular shift only to then 'fly to Nigeria and that there would be a problem with the plane coming back.'

He also singled out of one of the doctors saying: 'Chill pill? He needs a good slap' adding: 'They accuse me of de-skilling them - but it's inevitable if you behave in this way then you don't get given the things you want.'

Unbeknown to Mr Hale, his unguarded remarks were inadvertently taped after a mobile phone which had been recording the hospital meeting was left switched on.

Mr Hale was subsequently reported to bosses at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust and he was later sacked for gross misconduct.

Investigators claimed the surgeon's remarks could be considered racially discriminatory as he had referred to an Australian colleague as a man who 'never lets you down and will go a mile to make sure he helps.'

The four Asian doctors - Khawaja Zia, Ved Prakash, Vivek Kaul and Christi Swaminathan - subsequently sued the NHS trust for racial discrimination claiming they had been under-paid and under-promoted due to their race and treated as 'slave labour.' They also claimed they had taken offence to Mr Hale using the phrase 'three-line whip' to ask them to come to a meeting but lost their case.

It is understood the trust has spent more than £1.4 million defending employment tribunals involving race relations over the past decade. It is believed the vast majority of these involve a small number of repeat claimants and the trust has lost one.

Today, Mr Hale from Hassocks, West Sussex, faces being banned from practising medicine in Britain altogether after he was referred to the General Medical Council and accused of racial prejudice.

He had been appointed as a troubleshooting head of the gastrointestinal department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in 2011 following concerns the department was over-spending and under-performing.

But the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester was told controversy erupted over rota changes in the department and matters came to a head during a heated staff meeting on December 13, 2013.

The 90-minute meeting on the mobile phone was recorded but after it finished the device was not switched off and it taped Mr Hale as he carried on talking to colleagues in private for another ten minutes.

Counsel for the GMC, Craig Sephton QC told the hearing: 'There is no doubt that the four doctors were vocal and occasionally not as polite as they should have been but on the other hand, they were clearly concerned about their jobs and they had the impression that they had been mistreated.

'Mr Hale failed to show respect, he referred to them as 'sub-continental elements' and 'egocentric groups'. The comments that were made are disrespectful of the people about whom they were made. Whatever you think about somebody, to say that they need a good slap or that they are vile is not respectful, even when you are talking privately.

SOURCE