© David Hodges/SWNS
After an independent appeal upheld his sacking, finding that his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, he decided to take the health board to court, alleging unfair dismissal
Peter O'Keefe is perhaps the last person you'd expect to find behind the wheel of an Uber car. For starters, there can't be many taxi drivers who would know what to do if their fare had a heart attack.
'Well, I wouldn't open your chest on the back seat, that's for sure,' he says, steering his black Skoda Octavia safely through the Cardiff traffic. 'But I would very much hope that with my medical skills and knowledge, I might be moderately useful.'
For Peter, 52, was a renowned consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at the University Hospital of Wales for more than a decade. Back then, he drove a Mercedes, earned £125,000 a year and wore smart suits or scrubs rather than jeans. He commanded respect and the gratitude of thousands of patients on whom he operated.
He developed treatments and techniques, travelled the world to give lectures and trained other surgeons. In 2011, he was recommended for a National Clinical Excellence Award.
These days, he still makes the familiar journey to the 1,000-bed Cardiff hospital, but only to deliver agency nurses or outpatients to the place where he used to save lives.
But there are few options open for NHS surgeons - no matter how brilliant - who have been dismissed.
'I'm over 50, I have no reference, no licence to practise medicine and I've been sacked for gross misconduct. It's not really the résumé of a champion, is it?' he says drily.
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