ADULT care provider SEQOL sacked Lorraine Bond on Tuesday after a two-and-a-half year battle with liver disease and cancer, because she needed too much sick leave.

The 40-year-old mother-of-two was pulled in by bosses at their HQ in Orbital Shopping Park and told her contract would be terminated after three prolonged periods of absence since early 2012. She started with the company in 2009.

In 2012, whilst she was suffering with liver disease, Lorraine was signed off for four months as she made regular trips to Cheltenham to see a liver specialist.

She returned to work fit and well until she began to experience headaches in 2013, which practitioners put down to stress.

For six months the headaches, followed by nose bleeds, went on undiagnosed until, after having scans, she was told she had nasal septum cancer in April.

She was signed off again in July 2013 after the cancer diagnosis, as she began to go for biopsies. The cancer was found to have spread and after four operations on her nose she returned to work in October 2013.

Lorraine returned to work fewer hours each week and slowly built up her workload, with monthly visits to Churchill Hospital in Oxford.

It was in April of this year the cancer was found to have accelerated again. With the intensive radiotherapy and operations required, she was signed off again, for six months.

She was due to return to work on October 20. The nose bleeds, synonymous with her cancer fight stopped just three weeks ago and her body continues to fight the cancer.

And then on Tuesday, in front of a panel, she was told her contract would be terminated.

“They went through my scans. They agreed it was through no fault of my own, the time I had off,” said Lorraine, who lives in Old Town.

“They said they had to think about what money they’re losing and decided to terminate my employment.”

Lorraine was offered five weeks full pay and any outstanding holiday pay after her bosses made their decision.

“I feel disgusted,” she said. “I have always given them everything. Every time they needed someone, I was there. I was very reliable.

“I understand I have had time off, but it was no fault of my own. If I hadn’t had this illness I would have been at work.

“Some of my colleagues are disgusted too.”

Lorraine has spoken with her union, Unison, and its solicitors, and is now awaiting their thoughts on where she stands with her case and any grounds for appeal.

A spokesperson for SEQOL said: “We take the health and wellbeing of our employees very seriously and have detailed structures in place to help support employees back into work after periods of sickness.

“SEQOL has a sickness absence management process that is triggered when an employee has either four calendar weeks of absence, four separate episodes of absence in 12 months or when a pattern of absence emerges.

“The process starts with informal meetings, then progresses to formal stages where an employee’s health, well-being and capabilities are reviewed, along with identifying steps to support an individual back into their job.

“This could include phasing back to work, redeployment across SEQOL or adjusting an employee’s role.

“It is only at the third formal meeting stage that we will carefully consider whether the impact of an employee’s absence is affecting colleagues or the services to the Swindon community that SEQOL provides and so would warrant bringing their employment to an end.

“Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, terminating an employee’s contract is always as a last resort and after all other avenues have been explored.”