A GP surgery manager who was sacked by her doctor bosses after she fell pregnant has been awarded a further £20,000 to cover her missed bonus.

Naomi Hefford, who worked at Southend’s Queensway Surgery, sued her employers for pregnancy discrimination winning £294,372.72 in June of this year.

A follow-up hearing in east London hearing ruled Ms Hefford was owed an extra £20,000 after arguing she was entitled to a greater payout to account for a higher weekly pay and the bonus she would have received had she not been fired.

The original tribunal, held in June, was told Mrs Hefford overheard partners discussing sacking her and concocting an excuse to justify the move.

The surgery manager was fired by email while in hospital shortly before giving birth to her daughter.

During her interview before beginning work at Queensway in November 2017, Ms Hefford said she was asked whether she had children or was planning to have them. Partners at the surgery denied the allegation.

A year after beginning her role, Mrs Hefford announced her pregnancy.

Three days later she overheard doctors declaring they needed to “focus on sacking her”.

The tribunal judge said: “Her recollection was that the words were these: ‘We need to focus now. We need to focus on sacking her and then steadying the ship because that’s going to take up an awful lot of time’.

“(She) also explained that she had heard the female voice saying that ‘If we are going to do this what will be our excuse?’.”

The tribunal hearing found that the partners and bosses had decided to dismiss the Mrs Hefford by January 2019 at the latest.

The surgery had argued her dismissal was based on four allegations of gross misconduct. The tribunal ruled that no misconduct occurred.

The report concluded: “The principal reason for the claimant’s dismissal was her pregnancy. We have found that the concerns about the claimant’s conduct were trivial up to the date on which she announced her pregnancy. Thereafter, a meeting took place which discussed her potential dismissal.

“The process from then on which ultimately led to her dismissal was connected to her pregnancy.”