NHS bosses who lost an age discrimination case to an 88-year-old former secretary have not ruled out appealing against the employment judge's decision.

Eileen Jolly became the oldest person to win an age discrimination case after a tribunal ruled she was made a 'scapegoat' by Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

She was frogmarched out of the building with a security escort in September 2016, after management said she failed to effectively manage patient waiting lists.

Mrs Jolly, who lives in Tilehurst, was sacked after an investigation in January 2017. She was blamed for not uploading details of women awaiting non-urgent breast reconstruction surgery to a new database.

She successfully sued the trust, where she had worked for 25 years, when her career was abruptly ended at the age of 85.

The error was partly blamed for 14 women having to wait more than a year for surgery, putting the hospital's trust at risk of a Government fine.

But an employment judge ruled Mrs Jolly and her managers had different ideas about what her role entailed – and the trust failed to train her in how to manage patient waiting lists.

Employment judge Andrew Gumbiti-Zimuto said 'discriminatory and inappropriate' comments were made about Mrs Jolly, including about her age and ability to walk the length of the building.

It was also noted she was 'frail' because of her arthritis and heart conditions, which the tribunal ruled were 'hurtful' to the now 88-year-old.

In a statement, a spokesman for the NHS trust said that they acknowledged the judgment, and would be 'considering their next steps'.

Don Fairley, director of Workforce, said: "The trust takes staff welfare extremely seriously along with our responsibility to provide safe and effective care to patients.

"We acknowledge the judgment of the tribunal and will be considering our next steps."

The employment judge added: "The claimant was told that she was being investigated.

"[She] describes the way this happened as humiliating, she describes feeling degraded and she recalls a colleague saying 'Eileen won't be coming back.'

"The Claimant was escorted off the premises and accompanied by a colleague while she waited for a taxi."