An NHS trust has paid a doctor £50,000 to stay off work even after he was cleared of discriminating against a Muslim who refused to remove her hijab.
Vladislav Rogozov, 46, was suspended after claiming a surgeon walked out of an op when he asked her to remove the headscarf.
He has been cleared by the General Medical Council but is still not allowed back to work.
The anaesthetist made the request as he feared the hijab, which he said was spattered with blood, may risk infecting the patient.
The Czech-born doc worked at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital.
He revealed the 2013 incident in an interview with an online blog.
Dr Rogozov said: “After a long discussion held with respect, decency and factual arguments, the surgeon refused and left the operating room.”
He also claimed Muslim staff took prayer breaks during ops and one doctor recited the Koran in surgery.
The doctor, thought to earn £80,000 a year, was suspended in February.
A source said: “It seems crazy the hospital trust are forking out thousands of pounds to a doctor who they won’t allow back to work.
“It’s no secret the NHS is being squeezed for every penny, but this has dragged on for eight months unnecessarily.
“The GMC reviewed the facts of the case and found he had no case to answer, so he is free to work again if the hospital will let him.”
It is understood Dr Rogozov was informed by the GMC last month he had not breached medical protocols and would face no further action by the medical watchdog.
The hospital’s investigation, meanwhile, remains ongoing.
Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Trust said the GMC case resulted from a public complaint and it was conducting its own probe.