The trust that runs Charing Cross Hospital has apologised to the partner of a nurse who set himself on fire and took his own life after he was sacked, following an investigation which found he was treated "unfairly".

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust released an independent report on Tuesday(August 7) which heaped criticism on senior staff, including a human resources manager who wrote a review following Amin Abdullah’s death.

Mr Abdullah, 41, left the mental health unit he had admitted himself to, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight outside Kensington Palace in February 2016.

He had lost his job at Charing Cross Hospital and died days before an appeal hearing about his dismissal was due to be heard.

He was dismissed after signing a petition and writing a letter criticising a patient who had complained about a colleague, Nurse X, calling the patient a "professional complainer" in documents Nurse X then emailed to hospital staff in response.

Mr Abdullah later admitted he wrote the letter, but said he believed it to be only for the eyes of Nurse X, which Verita's investigation proved; showing she had emailed it without his knowledge but that it was not widely seen.

"I am pleased with the way the truth is being outed, and at last Amin is to be vindicated," his partner Terry Skitmore said. "I hope it will save anyone else from having to go through this."

Terry Skitmore says he is pleased his partner Amin Abdullah has been "vindicated"
Terry Skitmore says he is pleased his partner Amin Abdullah has been "vindicated"

He had spent years fighting for an investigation into the Trust's handling of the case, during which time he suffered a heart attack and battled cancer.

Verita's report called into question the integrity of the Trust officer who investigated Mr Abdullah leading to his dismissal, finding she did not adequately verify whether the patient did frequently complain, propelling the investigation that called into question Mr Abdullah's honesty.

Verita also found the patient sent another email to the Trust'a complaints team just weeks after the first, including a complaint about the investigations officer, which was not revealed in her investigation report, or in any accounts of Mr Abdullah's disciplinary hearing.

That non-disclosure cast doubt on the entire investigation, Verita found.

"It is clear from the evidence that nurse Abdullah was treated unfairly," the report said.

It also chastised the Trust for the "troubling" delays during the process, which had stretched over five months by the time Mr Abdullah committed suicide.

Amin Abdullah (left) and his partner Terry Skitmore
Amin Abdullah (left) and his partner Terry Skitmore

While the hearing's chair and HR were provided with "poor evidence", Verita also found they should have tested the claims made against Mr Abdullah more rigorously.

The Trust's management's response to Mr Abdullah's appeal request was "unduly harsh" and may have left him feeling there was no hope for his dismissal to be reversed, it found.

The dismissal and aftermath

Two warnings that Mr Abdullah's mental health was affected were raised during his wait for the December 2015 disciplinary hearing, according to Verita's report.

In a grievance he filed himself, he told the Trust he was receiving counselling and anti-anxiety medication.

He learned he had lost his job on December 21, when his ward manager was asked by the hearing chair to tell him to open his email at work; which she later told Verita's investigation she felt was “deeply insensitive.”

Two days later he appealed, and the hearing date was set for February 4.

After notice that the date would be postponed, he was voluntarily committed to St Charles Hospital - a mental health unit.

On February 8, 2016, he left the hospital without his partner's knowledge, telling staff he was going to collect a suit for his appeal.

Later that night police alerted Mr Skitmore that Mr Abdullah had not returned to hospital. In the early hours of the morning they found his body.

Who was Amin Abdullah?

Mr Abdullah was a Malaysian-born, award-winning nurse, who moved to London in 2003 and dreamed of becoming an oncology nurse.

Mr Skitmore described his partner of 12 years as a quiet, private high-achiever.

Mr Abdullah had been proud to get a job at Charing Cross after graduating from university in 2014.

Mr Skitmore does not know what motivated him to choose such an horrific death, but said due to Abdullah's Malaysian-Indian heritage he wondered if self-immolation could have been a form of cultural protest against his treatment.

Amin Abdullah (left) and Terry Skitmore (right) were together for 12 years
Amin Abdullah (left) and Terry Skitmore (right) were together for 12 years

"He felt his training and his degree and his life work was for nothing and he was being called a liar. He felt he had become less competent," he recalled.

"He had grown up in an orphanage and was bullied - I think this brought back memories of being bullied."

The response from NHS Imperial College Healthcare Trust

The Trust was told its investigations needed to be better quality, and evidence should be more rigorously tested.

It also recommended the trust offer more support to disciplined staff, and to minimise delays.

New chief executive, Professor Tim Orchard apologised to Mr Skitmore and to the patient caught up in the review, and said the dismissal "should not have happened."

He said the Trust accepted the report's findings and recommendations.

"Above all else, it is now clear that we let Amin down and, for that, I am truly sorry," he said.

The case revealed the Trust needed to work on its organisational culture, and that its original review fell short, Prof Orchard acknowledged.

It was overhauling its disciplinary processes as a result, and he detailed changes adding checks and balances to its procedures.

He continued: "We are very grateful to Amin’s partner for pursuing a detailed review. Without his persistence, we would not have generated all of this vital learning."

A Trust spokesman responding to questions about the two staffers highlighted in the report that they would be “actively followed up,”: “But, as this case shows is so important, that will be done fairly and with support and following proper processes."