NHS medics accused of hiding email in Peggie tribunal
The senior medic supervised Dr Beth Upton and helped complete a report following the incident between the transgender doctor and Ms Peggie.
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The gender critical nurse is suing her employer after being suspended following the dispute on Christmas Eve 2023.
Ms Peggie experienced a sudden heavy period and was concerned she had bled through her scrubs. When she entered the changing room and saw Dr Upton, she said, in her view, the medic was a man and should not have been in the room.
She also made a reference to the situation being similar to men being in the female prison estate. Much of the rest of the conversation is disputed.
Dr Upton made a formal complaint shortly afterwards. Ms Peggie was placed on 'special leave' in late December 2023 and suspended in January 2024, pending an investigation into 'alleged unwanted behaviours towards another member of NHS Fife staff'.
On Tuesday, Dr Searle, who said she had known Ms Peggie during her 11-year career at NHS Fife but was unaware of her gender critical views, explained her role in the inductions for junior doctors.
She said she had asked Dr Upton 'if she was happy using female changing rooms' in August 2023 during an induction and 'didn't make any other suggestions'.
She said she emailed NHS Fife's equality lead Isla Bumba on December 8, 2023, to ask if NHS Fife had a transgender policy but was told it did not.
On her return to work after the Christmas break, on December 29, Dr Searle read an email from Dr Elspeth Pitt regarding an 'upsetting interaction with another member of staff', and an email from Dr Upton sent on Christmas Day, alleging Ms Peggie had told her 'she can't be in the female changing room, it's wrong and lots of others feel this way' and 'she continued to tell me she is intimidated, she told me women have a right to feel safe', and made a comment about 'prisons'.
Dr Searle said: 'To me, that was likening the situation to the Isla Bryson case that was very well publicised. Isla Bryson was a convicted rapist who was housed temporarily in a female prison.'
She said she was 'very concerned' and 'knew there wasn't an NHS Fife policy', adding that 'according to the hate incident policy it is verbal harassment', the tribunal heard.
She said she had a meeting with Dr Upton at 5pm, who was 'shaken and distressed', and they completed an internal report together.
Dr Kate Searle arrives for the Sandie Peggie Employment Tribunal (Image: Iain Masterton) Dr Searle said: 'We looked at NHS Fife's hate incident policy and recognised this required a Datix to be completed, so we completed that together. We discussed reporting the incident to the police as that's again what is recommended in NHS Fife policy.
'Beth said she would think about it. We looked at her shift patterns to see when she was next due to be in and if she felt safe to do that.'
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During cross-examination, Dr Searle was asked about a number of emails, including one to six respondents referring to a 'small need to know group' to help avoid 'foot in mouth syndrome'.
Ms Cunningham said there was 'something a bit odd going on here' as there were separate chains with the same subject line, which looked as if they were connected. However, there were earlier messages in the chain which appeared to have been deleted.
Ms Cunningham said an email looked as if it had not been submitted to the tribunal when it should have been, and there was a further email that should have appeared at the bottom of a chain that was, 'for some reason, chopped off'.
'But on the face of this email, it is quite understandable, isn't it, why those involved in that small need to know group might have preferred not to have it looked at in the course of this tribunal,' the lawyer said.
The email was, she added, 'seriously embarrassing' to NHS Fife and Dr Upton.
'It talks about a live investigation. It says in terms that Esther [Davidson, Ms Peggie's supervisor], who a few days earlier and then again until the end of February is going to be the investigator, it says in terms Esther cannot do it, as she has been involved in the discussions with Sandie previously.
'It appears to be an intention to set up and coordinate a group of people who should not be talking about this investigation to each other because they are witnesses.
'It says in terms this information must not be shared with anyone outside this group, and it talks about the risk of foot in mouth syndrome. It is in itself, quite a serious case of foot in mouth syndrome, isn't it?'
Dr Searle said she could 'appreciate that in hindsight, we should not have written these things in a group email to witnesses. I agree.'
'And having done that, everybody involved in that chain had quite good reason to prefer that it shouldn't see the light of day,' argued Ms Cunningham.
'I cannot comment whether this email was withheld. I don't think you can prove that these two emails are linked," Dr Searle responded. 'And when we were all asked by the IT department to do a thorough search of our emails, we did so, and this email was produced.'
Ms Cunningham said: 'But you were asked to do some degree of search of emails on the previous trawls, and this email wasn't produced. Was it? You didn't produce it in time for the first part of this hearing, in response to the January 3 order.'
'It would appear not.'
Ms Cunningham said there were six people copied on the email. She asked if all those copied in had agreed between them that none of them would produce it.
'Absolutely not,' Dr Searle replied.
'I would suggest to you that you deliberately defied an order of the tribunal to conceal your own wrongdoing and that of your colleagues.'
'I absolutely do not agree with that,' Dr Searle said.
'If you had done that, it would be dishonest. Wouldn't it?' Ms Cunningham asked.
'It would be dishonest to do that, and I am a doctor who acts as honestly as I can at all times.'
She agreed that it would be an issue for the regulator if she, as a doctor, had not acted with honesty and integrity.
Dr Searle is due to continue giving evidence on Wednesday.
The tribunal continues.
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