A nurse who challenged a trans doctor for using women’s changing rooms is being threatened with the sack by the NHS after “misgendering” her colleague.
Sandie Peggie, who brought a landmark employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton, is understood to have been told to attend a conduct hearing on Friday which her employer has warned could lead to her dismissal. The Telegraph has the story:
The nurse, who had a previously unblemished 30-year career, is accused of committing misconduct by challenging the presence of Dr Upton, who was born male but identifies as a woman, in female facilities at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy on Christmas Eve 2023.
At the centre of the allegation which now threatens to ruin Ms Peggie’s career is that she “misgendered” Dr Upton by using male pronouns, including when speaking to other NHS colleagues.
Following an internal investigation, separate to ongoing employment tribunal proceedings, a NHS Fife panel will also consider two allegations that Ms Peggie compromised patient safety by refusing to work effectively with Dr Upton.
What was said in the changing room is disputed by Ms Peggie, who accepts calling Dr Upton a male but denies claims of “cornering” or “haranguing” her physically larger colleague.
Her legal team has accused Dr Upton of fabricating the two occasions in which she is accused of jeopardising patient safety, which were not made until months after they were said to have occurred. Ms Peggie insists they did not happen.
Experts told The Telegraph that the move from NHS Fife to push ahead with possible dismissal was “extraordinary” given that Jane Russell, the lawyer representing the health board and Dr Upton, had publicly accused the nurse of harassment and bullying towards Dr Upton in tribunal proceedings.
It is claimed that this pre-judged the outcome of the health board’s own investigation process, and would hand Ms Peggie strong legal grounds to challenge the outcome and any sanction.
A senior MSP said it was “beyond belief” that a nurse with three decades of experience was facing the sack for speaking out in defence of single-sex spaces.
Margaret Gribbon, Ms Peggie’s solicitor, said that new legal proceedings had now been launched against NHS Fife as a result of their actions.
“I can confirm that the handling of the investigation and the decision to proceed to a disciplinary hearing with the allegations will now be the subject of separate legal proceedings in the employment tribunal against Fife Health Board,” Ms Gribbon said.
Despite an internal NHS Fife investigation being understood to have heard from a witness which contradicts Dr Upton’s version of events in relation to one of the patient safety incidents, these are still to be considered as a possible cause of severe disciplinary action.
An internal report is said to have called for Ms Peggie to face a further allegation of “misgendering”, in addition to the changing room incident, because during the probe she is said to have referred to Dr Upton as a man to investigators.
Ms Peggie is believed to have been told by NHS Fife on the second day of her employment tribunal that potential outcomes from Friday’s hearing include sanctions up to and including dismissal from her job.
In 10 days of evidence heard over the past fortnight, a tribunal in Dundee was told that Ms Peggie had encountered Dr Upton, who she believes to be male, in female hospital changing rooms on two previous occasions before the Christmas Eve incident.
Ms Peggie said on the third she needed to use the changing rooms urgently due to heavy menstrual bleeding and felt intimidated and embarrassed to find Dr Upton there.
The nurse admitted she had called Dr Upton a male but denied she had provoked an angry confrontation or behaved like a “dog with a bone” when making her views known.
Meanwhile, Dr Upton claimed Ms Peggie had subjected them to sustained transphobic harassment, including raising the case of Isla Bryson, the Scottish rapist previously known as Adam Graham, who was temporarily housed in a female jail.
Dr Upton has denied seeking to “punish” Ms Peggie or end her career, as “revenge” for the Christmas Eve incident.
Ms Peggie has been told that her conduct hearing will take place at Victoria Hospital’s boardroom with Jillian Torrens, head of complex and critical care services, to ultimately decide her fate with the help of an HR officer and NHS Fife’s head of nursing.
Health board management intend to call Dr Upton as one of four witnesses, with Ms Peggie entitled to call her own.
The nurse has been told she could receive a final written warning, alternatives to dismissal or be fired.
Murdo Fraser, Scottish Tory MSP, said SNP ministers now had serious questions to answer about how the case had been handled.
It emerged on Sunday that Neil Gray, the SNP health secretary, was warned in 2024 that NHS Fife was failing to meet its legal obligations to provide single-sex facilities but apparently failed to act.
“It is beyond belief that this dedicated nurse who has given 30 years of service to the NHS is now potentially facing the sack,” Mr Fraser said.
“This sorry saga exposes the stark reality of the Sturgeon-era extremist trans agenda where those who speak out in defence of women and girls’ rights to access single-sex facilities are the ones who are wrongly punished.
Worth reading in full.
