A hospital consultant who was racially discriminated against by her employers and then sacked has won £1.6m compensation, it was announced last night

Dr Feyi Awotona was awarded the money by an employment tribunal after fighting a six-year legal fight to get her job back.

She returned to work last year after South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust was ordered to reinstate her.

However, in May she quit her post as a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at South Tyneside District Hospital, in South Shields.

Her solicitor, Jane Jelly, announced last night that Dr Awotona had been awarded the compensation after an employment tribunal ruled three years ago that she suffered racial discrimination and was unfairly dismissed.

The legal battle has been estimated to have cost the health trust more than £2m.

Ms Jelly said: "We are delighted with the result. Dr Awotona has travelled a long and difficult path.

"The tribunal recognised that Dr Awotona is a doctor of considerable ability and ambition and that as a skilled clinician she is highly regarded by her peers and patients.

"But the experience Dr Awotona has had over the past several years make it unlikely that she will ever resume a career within the NHS.

"That is a great loss to the women of South Tyneside and to the NHS as a whole.

"This case draws attention to the concern that racial discrimination still exists within the NHS and it is very difficult for those from ethnic minorities to reach senior positions."

The saga began when Dr Awotona said she was sacked after she raised concerns about levels of care at South Tyneside District Hospital in 1998.

She took the health trust to an employment tribunal and in March 2003, it ruled in her favour.

Dr Awotona described how she was victimised, racially harassed and eventually sacked because of the comments she made about levels of care and her claims that baby death rates at the hospital were too high.

She said that hospital bosses looked for a way to get rid of her and finally accused her of undermining a colleague and general morale at the hospital.

The consultant was fired in December 1998 for what health bosses alleged was "gross personal misconduct".

Despite winning the employment tribunal the trust refused to re-employ her.

Last year it was ordered to reinstate the 50-year-old, from Gosforth, Newcastle, to her £68,000 a year job and she returned in November to a non-clinical role.

Before Dr Awotona could return to front line duties at South Tyneside District Hospital she had to complete six-months training at a different hospital.

However, Ms Jelly said she had quit because the trust had refused to allow her to re-train at the hospital after a placement at another hospital fell through.

A spokeswoman said the South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust was "shocked" at the level of compensation awarded and was considering whether to appeal but stressed hospital services would not be cut.