A hospital trust says it will “vigorously contest” claims that patients were put at risk in its neurosurgery department.

University Hospitals Sussex says it has been addressing “historic tensions” linked to the service which has been under fire in reports.

Two of its surgeons, Dr Krishna Singh and Dr Mansoor Foroughi, are taking the NHS trust to an employment tribunal following the allegations about the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Dr Foroughi was dismissed in 2021 while Dr Singh was demoted from his leadership role at the trust.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: "The trust will vigorously contest these claims at the Employment Tribunal. Dismissing anyone is an absolute last resort, and an outcome the trust would always seek to avoid if possible.

“There were known, historic tensions within the neurosurgery team, and addressing them has been a priority over a number of years.

“The Royal College of Surgeons was invited to review the service, the Trust organised mediation within the team, and an independent investigator was brought in to examine the claims being made.

“The Trust accepted the findings of the external investigator and followed proper process.

“The neurosurgery team today is performing well, and mortality rates compare well to other, comparable trusts.”

The trust says it performed better than average for the number of deaths compared to the national average from 2021 to 2022.

Allegations made by the two former surgeons come after a “culture of fear” was reported at the hospital in the review by the Royal College of Surgeons.

The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, from an inspection last August, found that bullying was still rife in operating theatres at the hospital and that the culture remained negative.

The report said: “Staff in general theatres told us the culture continued to be negative.

“We spoke with 30 members of staff who gave us examples of bullying in the unit with a divided workforce and a perception that some staff were treated differently to others.

“Staff told us they were placed in difficult circumstances daily and they did not feel listened to when they reported these concerns.”

Sussex Police are currently separately investigating dozens of deaths at the Royal Sussex County Hospital between 2015 and 2021.