Man Offered Cash to Patient He Tipped Out of Wheelchair
Ambulance worker loses unfair dismissal case after Hammersmith Hospital incident
The patient had recently had a limb amputated. Picture: AI-generated
February 20, 2026
An ambulance worker who knocked a Hammersmith Hospital patient out of his wheelchair and then handed him £20 has had his complaint against unfair dismissal rejected by a judge.
John La was sacked after accidentally injuring a patient he picked up on Ducane Road following a dialysis session.
Mr La had been wheeling the patient down a pavement when he unintentionally threw him out of his seat, causing wounds including to the man’s amputation. Mr La had been wheeling the patient forwards down the pavement rather than backwards, as per his training.
The patient said Mr La had asked him not to report the incident and gave him £20 to “buy lunch”.
A district nurse also claimed the patient had further suffered an injury to a finger, which was potentially broken.
Mr. La and a hospital porter lift the patient back in. Mr. La applies plasters to the patient’s injuries and leaves £20 with the patient. He reports the incident roughly 1–3 hours after it occurred – saying that he had ”scratches” but omits that he left money with the patient.
He was later sacked for gross misconduct over non-compliance with health and safety, bribery, and bringing the company into disrepute.
Mr La took his former employer Community Ambulance Service Ltd to an employment tribunal last August over his dismissal, arguing it was too harsh.
Judge Heather however found the company was right to sack Mr. La for gross misconduct, and the specific allegation regarding the money was deemed an attempt to bribe the patient.
It was reasoned that even if Mr. La had good intentions (such as helping the patient buy lunch or bandages), leaving money with a patient who had just been injured “could reasonably be defined as an attempt to bribe” to prevent them from reporting the incident
In an amended decision published this month it is noted that Mr La began working at Community Ambulance Service Ltd in November 2005.
In March 2024, several months before the incident, Mr La failed a First Aid at Work assessment having been unable to answer questions posed by a trainer.
In an Incident Report Form included in the judgement Mr La wrote, “As I was wheeling him back to the vehicle, we went down a small pavement slope. When the wheels hit the ground, the patient fell forward and injured his left foot and right amputation site. A porter came and assisted me in putting the patient back into the wheelchair. I offered to take him to A + E, however he refused. When we arrived at his address I cleaned his wounds and applied plasters.”
The patient subsequently filed a complaint claiming he had been bleeding heavily following the fall, with injuries to his toes and amputation.
Following an investigation Mr La was sacked and later lost an appeal against the decision.
His submission to the employment tribunal, heard in Watford last year, included that there was not enough evidence to conclude that he had attempted to bribe the patient or that a handling error amounted to gross misconduct.
Community Ambulance Service Ltd contested these claims, and Judge Heather found Mr La “was guilty of gross misconduct and the respondent was entitled to dismiss him without notice”.
She concluded the complaints of unfair dismissal and breach of contract regarding notice pay were “not well founded”, and refused them both.
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
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