A consultant's secretary who said she had been victimised for whistle-blowing over alleged poor standards of care has been awarded a fraction of the £200,000 compensation she had claimed.

Irene Mounsey was awarded a total of £7,143.80, at an emp-loyment tribunal yesterday and was told to pay £1,500 costs with VAT.

Chairman David Burton said Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust's actions had caused her to be "anxious, worried and angry" but ruled they did not cause stress-related illness which saw her off work for 18 months.

He made no order for compensation for loss of earnings, future earnings and pension.

Mrs Mounsey won her case against the Trust last August, when it conceded at a tribunal that she was unfairly threatened when she was investigated following an appearance on Yorkshire Television's Calen-dar in which she defended her former boss, breast consultant Robert Phipps, who was sacked by the Trust.

Mrs Mounsey also raised concerns about standards at the breast-care service.

Before quitting her job in January 2002, Mrs Mounsey was off work with stress which she claimed was caused by the incident. But yesterday the Leeds tribunal heard that independent consultant psychiatrist Dr Robert Kehoe considered it had exacerbated an existing anxiety depressive condition, "increasing the severity for a month or two", but it was not the cause.

Mrs Mounsey, of Shibden, Halifax, was told in February 2001 there would be an investigation into her TV appearance and said she was concerned disciplinary procedures would start if she returned to work.

But Melanie Tether, for the Trust, said she could not see why "being invited for a series of fact-finding interviews" could cause so much trauma.

Mr Burton felt that in the light of Dr Kehoe's report Mrs Mounsey's claim for loss of earnings was unsustainable.

The Trust's investigation delayed a decision by the NHS Pensions Agency about temporary injury allowance while she was off sick. She has since been awarded £7,500.

Mrs Mounsey claimed compensation for loss of earnings and future loss of earnings; loss of pension and pension rights; future medical costs; injury to feelings; personal injury; aggravated damages and interest.

She said that at 53 she would not find another job before retirement age: "I'll never be able to hide from a future employer why I've been off work for so long.

"I'll have a psychiatric report and I've been in the media as a whistle-blower. Who would possibly employ me? I could not work in an office. Every time the phone rang I'd feel victimised."

Mrs Tether said Mrs Moun-sey had "courted the media".

But Mrs Mounsey said she spoke out because "patient care was a matter of public concern".

After the case Mrs Mounsey said: "I've stood up for patient care. I've done my best.

A spokesman for Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We can give the community the reassurance that two external assessments of our breast-care service have recently underlined it as a first-class unit with high-calibre staff."