A DOCTOR was ordered to pay Alder Hey £10,000 after he launched a legal battle against the Liverpool hospital.

Children's surgeon Shiban Ahmed took the West Derby  hospital to a tribunal in 2010, accusing managers of  targeting him on racial and religious grounds and for raising concerns about care.

But the case was abandoned and last month Alder Hey, along with University Hospital of North Staffordshire, tried to recover £350,000 from him in  legal costs.

The consultant made 101 allegations in 2½ years against the hospitals, which he still works for.

Mr Ahmed was one of two whistleblowers whose allegations prompted a Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) report. It concluded the hospital’s surgery was no longer  “world class”. The  ECHO published  the  content of the report,  commissioned by the  hospital, last month.

Mr Ahmed’s planned  2010 hearing was cancelled  when his insurance company  pulled out due to rising fees.

A Manchester tribunal  heard the hospitals’ case last  month. But its decision was  released in a “reserved  judgment”. The surgeon was  made to pay each hospital  £10,000.

Tribunal judge Stuart  Robertson said Mr Ahmed,  from Altrincham, was  “acting unreasonably” in  bringing the case.

He said: “The claimant’s  overall approach to the  proceedings was speculative.

“He seems to me to have  given no thought to what  allegations might succeed  and what might not.” He said  Mr Ahmed did not even  attempt to “make a link  between the treatment and  his race or religion or protected disclosures (whistleblowing).”

Judge Robertson defended  the low £20,000 costs, adding:  “I prefer to veer on the side  of caution, given the  uncertainty about the extent  of the allegations which the  claimant ought not to have  pursued at all or for as long as  he did.”