Dr Shirine Boardman, who was sacked by South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust in July 2008, made her claim at Birmingham Employment Tribunal after losing an appeal against the trust's decision last year.

The consultant, who specialises in diabetes, helped set up the Apnee Sehat clinic at Queensway Community Centre to reduce high levels of diabetes, heart disease and strokes in the Asian population.

The trust dismissed Dr Boardman for gross misconduct after she was accused of passing patients' details from a diabetes database held by the trust to the clinic without their consent.

After a ten-day hearing, during which evidence was given by, among others, trust chief executive Glen Burley, Dr Peter Hawker, associate medical director of the trust, and Dr Stephen Mather, medical director, the tribunal upheld the decision to sack her.

In her conclusion, tribunal chairman Frances Monk said: "This case has attracted a great deal of public and national support and it would be hard not to have considerable sympathy for Dr Boardman, given the loss of her prestigious job, after an otherwise unblemished career.

"Dr Boardman had admitted the transfer of data and there was really little else for the disciplinary panel to investigate, other than the motivation and the potential damage done by that.

"It is of note that during the statement of the appeal, the claimant clearly admitted she had done wrong and she accepted she had acted inappropriately.

"We wish to record our regret that the career of Dr Boardman with the respondent trust ended in the way it did, but we do not believe in the circumstances that we can do other than find it was a fair decision."

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Burley said: "It was very reassuring that the tribunal confirmed the robustness of the trust process and were satisfied that the decision was fair."

Former Warwickshire county councillor Mota Singh, whose wife was treated by Dr Boardman for ten years, raised £13,000 for Apnee Sehat.

He said: "I am sad we lost a brilliant consultant. I had great respect for her.

"She did a great job in setting up the clinic. It was a project of which we had dreamed for years and it vanished."

Leamington mayor and Warwick district councillor Balvinder Gill, who has been supporting Dr Boardman since her dismissal, said; "I am really very sad to hear she lost her case.

"She was a very good doctor and I do not think she was treated properly by the hospital.

"She was made a scapegoat. It's very unfair."

Dr Boardman, who declined to comment on the tribunal's outcome, has six weeks to decide whether to lodge an appeal.