A HEALTH board manager yesterday told an industrial tribunal he offered a part-time surgeon an extra half-day a week in recognition of his on-call commitment to avoid disruption and poor teamwork.

Mr Brian Liddle, unit general manager with Western Isles Health Board, said surgeon Debabrata Chatterjee's estimate of his emergency workload was exaggerated but he offered to pay him for an extra half-day a week.

Mr Chatterjee, 58, a GP on South Uist, is seeking #71,000 from the health board. He has taken the board to a tribunal claiming he was overworked and underpaid as part-time surgeon at Daliburgh Hospital on South Uist.

The tribunal in Glasgow heard earlier that he was paid for four half-day sessions a week at the hospital but Mr Chatterjee, who has since been dismissed from the surgical post, claimed the workload amounted to eight sessions a week as he was also on call round the clock and had to deal with emergencies.

Mr Liddle told the tribunal they informed all incoming practitioners there were advantages and disadvantages in working in the Western Isles. The advantages were the working relationships, the quality of life, and the standard of facilities. The disadvantage was that emergency duties were greater and on-call commitment was far more onerous.

He said he offered Mr Chatterjee an extra half-day because the dispute had continued for a considerable time and a poor relationship with practitioners could prove disruptive and did not make for good teamwork.

``I was prepared at that stage to try and move forward and resolve the situation,'' Mr Liddle added. He said the offer, which was not backdated, was not accepted.

Mr Liddle said there had been a ``painstaking search'' of patients records at Daliburgh to assess the workload. He said Dr Chatterjee's workload was static and his on-call commitment was minimal.

He said Mr Chatterjee's account of his hours was exaggerated and he found it unacceptable. Mr Chatterjee's contract precluded him from attending casualties and was for surgical work only.

The tribunal heard the situation at Daliburgh and Lochmaddy was under close scrutiny because of suggestions for a central hospital at Benbecula.

Mr Liddle added: ``I discussed the workload at Daliburgh Hospital with Mr Chatterjee. I asked him his opinion of the amount of time he actually spent at the hospital. I spoke to the area medical officer. I spoke to the unit director and looked at the hospital records. I thought Mr Chatterjee's claim was exaggerated in the extreme.''

He said work associated with being on call was minimal with 18 or 19 call-outs in one year.

An earlier report into the hospital found the surgical workload was not sufficient to maintain the surgical team and not enough to maintain expertise. It was recommended certain abdominal operations should no longer take place at Daliburgh.

Mr Liddle said Mr Chatterjee's post was probably the most assessed in the UK and Daliburgh the most assessed hospital. He denied he had been considering removing him from his post.

The tribunal heard Mr Chatterjee was dismissed following an allegation of professional misconduct before his contractual dispute had been resolved. His sacking is presently the subject of an appeal to the Secretary of State.

The hearing continues.