Former royal surgeon has denied bullying Muslim colleagues when they took time

Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily  Front Page newsletter and new  audio briefings. Mr Truscott read from a diary entry that the surgeon was unable to go into theatre after being left “shaken”.Krukowski said: “That is a falsehood. He was not scheduled for theatre.“We worked and discussed it and I thought we had addressed the issue.“He recognises that he misled me about the detail of the surgery and patient care was far below what should be accepted.”He added: “I lost my temper with him and I was embarrassed and mortified. I have subsequently apologised.”The then health secretary Alex Neil was first alerted by a whistleblower to concerns from senior medics of the management and clinical standards at ARI in March 2014.Healthcare Improvement Scotland carried out a full review on performance and culture at the hospital, with inspectors raising concerns about a minority of consultants in general surgery.The tribunal continues. A former royal surgeon has denied “bullying” Muslim colleagues when they took time off for prayer, a tribunal hears.  Professor Zygmunt Krukowski oversaw the medical care of the Royal family at Balmoral but was suspended from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after a misconduct investigation was launched in 2015. He has now launched an employment tribunal into his “unfair dismissal”, after he was cleared by the General Medical Council in July 2015. Professor Krukowski, 70, was cross examined by Ian Truscott who asked if he had said: “Some patients were more important than some religions.”But Krukowski claimed he said: “What’s more important? Patients or prayers?”The solicitor said an NHS colleague had claimed Krukowski used the derogatory phrase “hairy-a***d Muslims” when talking to the then chief executive of the NHS trust. But Professor Krukowski “strenuously denied” the claims. He said: “I have never used that phrase in my life. “I would have been astonished that the chief executive of a national board would not take action immediately.“I strenuously deny I would use that phrase and I would not be so stupid to use it at a chief executive.”Another worker said he felt he was being “bullied, harassed and mobbed” after Prof Krukowski “raised his voice” at him.