logo
Watchdog branded ‘emotional' after criticising NHS Fife over trans tribunal costs

Watchdog branded ‘emotional' after criticising NHS Fife over trans tribunal costs

Times5 hours ago
The Scottish Information Commissioner has been accused of being 'emotional', 'selective' and 'not professional' after he condemned a health board's decision to withhold details of costs associated with a prominent single-sex spaces employment tribunal.
David Hamilton, the official who ensures public bodies are complying with Freedom of Information laws, ruled that NHS Fife had acted unlawfully by rejecting requests to reveal its legal bill for a case involving nurse Sandie Peggie who objected to a male transsexual doctor using the same changing room.
However, in a data breach, the critical comments of the board's information governance officer were mistakenly sent to a patient, who passed them on to a Sunday newspaper.
The officer said that it was 'not professional' of Hamilton to lump information requests made by The Mail on Sunday and two other applicants together.
She also complained that although NHS Fife was using public money to fund the defence, legal costs were 'personal' to both doctors involved in the tribunal.
• NHS Fife criticised for 'trying to hide' cost of trans row nurse tribunal
In response to a line in the judgment which read that the commissioner was 'frustrated' at the health board's poor handling of the information requests, the officer wrote: 'The commissioner should not be bringing an emotional statement into the review.'
She added he was 'being selective' and was making assumptions about NHS Fife's conduct.
Peggie, an A&E nurse, took NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton, who is biologically male, to a tribunal after being suspended from work and investigated for bullying after confronting the doctor in the women's changing rooms on Christmas Eve 2023, at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy.
NHS Fife, which is using NHS money to defend itself, Dr Upton and Dr Kate Searle, a third respondent, in court was criticised when it refused to reveal how much public money it was using on the case in response to a freedom of information request.
After a protracted battle over the release of the information, the Scottish information commissioner said it had acted unlawfully and Hamilton demanded it issue a new response by July 14. The tribunal is due to resume on July 16.
A health board spokesman said at the time: 'NHS Fife notes the report from the commissioner and intends to comply fully with its decision notice.'
Hamilton said the board was 'wasting time' compiling the broadside against him rather than fulfilling its legal obligations to review its responses to FOI requests.
He told The Scottish Mail on Sunday: 'I'm aware an NHS Fife staff member's personal commentary on the case was mistakenly disclosed into the public domain. I am confident, however, that it is unlikely to reflect the final view of the health board itself.'
• SNP threatened with legal action over single-sex toilets policy
Tess White, the Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman, said: 'The petty and evasive behaviour of NHS Fife demonstrates once again how out of touch they are with mainstream public opinion.'
An NHS Fife spokesman said it 'fully respects the role and authority of the Scottish Information Commissioner and continues to accept the Commissioner's decision in this matter'.
This article was amended on July 7 2025. An earlier version wrongly attributed a comment criticising 'the SNP's dangerous and unlawful gender self-ID policy' to the Scottish information commissioner. The comment was made by a spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

BREAKING NEWS Urgent warning issued as drug chiefs recall common eye drops due to risk they could cause BLINDNESS
BREAKING NEWS Urgent warning issued as drug chiefs recall common eye drops due to risk they could cause BLINDNESS

Daily Mail​

time36 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

BREAKING NEWS Urgent warning issued as drug chiefs recall common eye drops due to risk they could cause BLINDNESS

Health officials have urgently recalled over 11,000 eye drops due to manufacturing issues that may have made the products unsterile that could leave patients blind. UK medicines watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) slapped an alert on one batch of Zaditen 0.25mg/ml eye drops, used to treat seasonal allergies such as hay fever. It is feared the drug may have been contaminated during manufacturing, causing side effects including conjunctivitis and inflammation of the cornea and eyelid. Left untreated, these conditions can cause permanent eye damage and even blindness. But the MHRA, which published the alert today, said it had not yet received any complication or reports of harm from patients who had taken the commonly-prescribed eye drops. The recall only impacts one batch of the 5ml eye drop solution, manufactured by Laboratoires Théa, with the batch number 4V64 and an expiry date of September 30 2026.

‘Lofty ambition, very little detail': Readers react to Labour's 10-year plan for the NHS
‘Lofty ambition, very little detail': Readers react to Labour's 10-year plan for the NHS

The Independent

time36 minutes ago

  • The Independent

‘Lofty ambition, very little detail': Readers react to Labour's 10-year plan for the NHS

Labour's recently unveiled 10-year plan for the NHS has sparked a lively debate among Independent readers, many of whom are cautiously weighing its promises against the past. The plan, unveiled last week by Sir Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, includes ambitious goals such as 'a doctor in your pocket' through a greatly enhanced NHS smartphone app, 24/7 health advice, easier online appointments, and a shift towards preventative medicine and neighbourhood health centres. When we asked whether you thought Labour's 10-year NHS plan could deliver real improvements, nearly half (47 per cent) of readers said no, citing a lack of funding, staff, and detail. Another 28 per cent said the ambition is right, but delivery will be the real test, while 25 per cent believed it is the bold, long-term reform the NHS requires. Many said the plans represent a welcome move towards modernising a service often criticised for being stuck in analogue times. Yet, despite the optimism around the digital and structural reforms, several readers remained sceptical about whether the plan could deliver the improvements the NHS so desperately needs, with concerns focusing on funding, staffing shortages, and the lack of detailed delivery mechanisms. With the NHS under constant pressure from an ageing population and rising demand, the question of how these reforms will be implemented was front and centre. Here is what readers had to say about the plan's prospects and challenges: 'All just empty words and no delivery' I can say that I am going to travel to the Moon and back – but if I don't say how I intend to do it, how I intend to pay for it, and how anyone will know that I have done it, it is all just empty words and no delivery. The NHS has a huge recruitment/retention problem, and it is going to need tens of thousands of extra staff. In addition, Streeting has run away from Social Care, which is the one thing that will solve the NHS crisis. So like every other plan, it will not be resourced properly – but there will be lots of highly paid executives involved, working out of fancy offices, until the next plan comes along... ListenVeryCarefully 'Prevention is not a quick fix' Prevention work is already undertaken by Public Health departments in local authorities, in collaboration with the NHS. This is absolutely nothing new. Councils spend millions on Public Health preventive work. The problem is that prevention can take years to show an effect or to realise savings for the NHS. Many people don't seem to get that. Preventive work is not a quick fix. To be honest, I am sick of successive governments and highly funded think tanks producing report after report when we already know the answers. Flossie 'They know the answers' The announcement is very short on detail, particularly on how they will help prevent ill health. Successive governments have commissioned reports on diet, exercise, and active travel for years – they know the answers. Why the reluctance to announce them and any sort of delivery plan? Holly 'Like a nurse reorganising the Houses of Parliament' Again, the government is seduced into reorganising the organisers and office teams. Non-clinical people always do this, and it makes no difference – it's like a nurse reorganising the Houses of Parliament. Plain hopeless. Emperor's new clothes. Having been through five of these restructures, I can say they never change or improve anything. As always, they want less clinical activity and more admin... Diane1234 'We can't afford an NHS that fixes everything' The biggest problem with the NHS is that we want it to fix every ailment – from cuts and scrapes to organ transplants. Sooner or later, we have to face up to the fact that we can't afford an NHS that tries to fix everything, including things we should take responsibility for, such as obesity. Issuing painkillers to just about every patient who has a procedure is also ludicrous, as paracetamol or ibuprofen costs about 39p a pack in a no-frills supermarket. Using the NHS should be limited to "must do" and "could do" – not "it would be nice if I could use it because I'm too idle to sort out my minor problem myself". We are nearing the point where we will need to pay a small charge for all the high blood pressure pills and statins issued to the older population. They're all on them. onmyown 'Primary prevention works – but it's never been prioritised' Primary prevention has always been the Cinderella service within our health system, because it is not "sexy" and requires hard graft to change attitudes and promote health. But quite simply, it works. As a retired health visitor with more than 40 years in practice, I can categorically state that if you invest in taking health into the community, it will work. For too long, resources have been directed into much more expensive tertiary care. I really hope this time they mean it. HappilyRetiredWoman 'Nothing new' This is nothing new – we've been trying to transfer care from hospitals to communities for years (since Thatcher and "care in the community"). This appears to be a blueprint to shut down more hospitals or reduce funding. This isn't what's needed – just the opposite. Community services are already stretched. Doctors' surgeries are reducing services, and waiting times are too long. Pharmacies are closing down and being sold due to a lack of funding. This 10-year plan is just the usual political BS that won't get to grips with the real problems. ChrisMatthews 'This is the future – and it's already happening' A very good idea. Not far from where I live, there are two modern NHS clinics where diagnostic procedures are performed without the need to travel miles to the general hospital. This is the future, and this is what has already been done in many more advanced European countries. Pomerol95 'Abolish the CQC – there's £50m saved' I recently changed my GP because I was unhappy with the service. The contrast between the two services is stark, and I wondered how it could be that there is such inconsistency at such a basic level. My old GP had a CQC rating of "good", but it was far from that. I dug around a bit and found that the last time the CQC had assessed the practice was in 2016 – nearly a decade ago. The problem with such rating systems, beloved of the competition-obsessed Tories, is that they're actually worse than useless. They create an illusion of competence where it doesn't exist. Plainly, it isn't practical for one organisation to continuously monitor standards throughout the healthcare system, so it should be blindingly obvious that this is not an appropriate way to ensure consistency of service. Abolish the CQC – there's £50m a year saved. RickC 'District hospitals and prevention – let's hope it happens' Moving frontline services to community care centres would be a very positive move. Re-establishing the district hospital would be very popular. Shifting the emphasis to the prevention of illness and the improvement of public health systems is also a laudable aim. Let's hope this can be achieved in 10 years! PaleHorse 'Lofty ambition, very little detail' I cannot see anything concrete in this statement – plenty of lofty ambition, but very little detail. I like the idea of local health centres providing access to diagnostic services. If they are allowed to invest in new equipment, it will speed up the move to digital services. Moonraker2025 'Dangerous to cut cure before prevention pays off' Prevention vs cure is logically all very well – but do we know how to reliably prevent sickness that might put people in hospital? For many conditions, effective systems for prevention might take more than a decade to have much effect. So, no money is saved through needing less for cure for 10 years or more. It is very dangerous to run down curative services until we see the new investment in prevention paying dividends. I suppose Streeting will require the NHS to blame the unwell for not following prevention guidelines – as a sort of "not our responsibility: you did this to yourself". Simplesimon 'So… it won't happen' It would take a lot of cash; the NHS doesn't have it because the Treasury doesn't have it... It would require the UK economy to improve dramatically... It won't. Or they could increase taxes, particularly for the wealthy, but they won't do that, as it would upset their donors – and higher taxes aren't why the donors put them in power... So… it won't happen. ScoobytheDog 'Nothing really new here' After spending nearly fifty years working in the NHS, I think this all seems to have been said before. So nothing really new here, but the sentiment is a good one. How to deliver it will be the real test. Sparrow 'Remember Blair's polyclinics?' If Labour don't put in the funding and increase the staffing, this latest NHS plan will fail. Remember Blair's polyclinics, anyone? rcourt130864 'No understanding of cause and effect' There seems to be no vision at all. No understanding of cause and effect. For example, the "food" industry, peddling its processed junk, has made people ill and obese. But rather than tackle the cause, expensive weight-loss drug injections are prescribed. Likewise, the alcohol industry. Either a lack of vision, or the government has been 'bought off' by wealthy pressure groups. Heisenberg97 'The NHS is a public service, not a business' It can work – the basic problem has always been that the NHS was never intended to be a business and cannot be run as one. It is a public service. Before the advent of business management techniques (plied by business consultants), it was the envy of the world as a health service, not measured by being a profitable public company-style business. I worked on this well over 20 years ago. Clinical and non-clinical should be treated separately. Fixed assets should be NHS-owned (not government-owned), giving them control over expansion, upgrades etc. Build a model based on the production side and the service side. The production side is more predictable and can be proactive. In the NHS, you could represent this by likening it to a catalogue of products: tests, scans, standard operations (hip, knee replacements etc.), and all post-operative support can be included as 'products'. The supplier or deliverer of the individual products does not have to be the NHS, but coordination should be through an NHS functional system. The NHS could rent on-site space to a service provider who would, for example, equip an area where scans, x-rays etc. are provided to patients on referral from an NHS-approved doctor on an agreed service contract. I challenge the view that to outsource these services is 'selling off' the NHS. The service side of any operation, on the other hand, is always more reactive (as in any business) and needs skilled resources with the flexibility, training, and tools to provide support to the patient. They need the best resources to handle unclassified 'breakdowns' and set in motion a recovery plan that covers not just fixing the problem, but getting the patient back to normal (or a new normal). This is the NHS's core function and is the public service that we all expect. ArcticFox 'Not a plan, just a wish list' First, it almost certainly isn't a "plan" in the sense that anyone in business would recognise. I bet it is just a wish list of things they want to happen, much like the recently published "Modern Industrial Strategy", lacking any detail as to how it's actually going to be delivered, what the key milestones are, who is going to be responsible, what resourcing and cash is going to be dedicated towards it, and what the measures of success will be. Equally, I doubt there is any delivery structure in place, or transformation programme governance, or anything like that. Second, Labour is going to be out of office come 2028 or 2029 for the next 30 years, and whoever takes over from them will almost certainly tear this plan up. They don't have ten years, and they must know that by now. So honestly, what's the point in publishing a "ten-year plan"? It's just performative at this stage. sj99 The conversation isn't over. To join in, all you need to do is register your details, then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking 'log in' on the top right-hand corner of the screen.

From constipation to ‘tennis elbow' all bizarre ailments netting Brits brand-new cars under corrupted Motability scheme
From constipation to ‘tennis elbow' all bizarre ailments netting Brits brand-new cars under corrupted Motability scheme

The Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Sun

From constipation to ‘tennis elbow' all bizarre ailments netting Brits brand-new cars under corrupted Motability scheme

TAXPAYERS are funding cars for drivers with ailments including constipation and "tennis elbow". The £600 million-a-year Motability scheme offers essential support to individuals with severe physical or mental disabilities. 2 2 But new figures have laid bare how the scheme - which vital to giving those with physical or mental disabilities access to reliable transportation - has been corrupted beyond recognition. The keys to 40 cars were allocated to individuals with 'tennis elbow', a condition that 'causes pain around the outside of the elbow' but is typically resolved with rest, according to the NHS. And 20 individuals suffering from constipation made use of Motability, along with ten people struggling with a 'failure to thrive'. Over 32,000 new cars were handed over for people suffering anxiety or other depressive disorders, while 800 went to individuals with obesity. While obesity can lead to mobility challenges in severe cases, some believe this inclusion is too broad and leaves the programme's goodwill open to exploitation. What's more, the data shows that 770 cars were leased to individuals with alcohol misuse problems, with 220 going to those with issues around drugs. The data was released in response to a Parliamentary Question, published by the Guido Fawkes website and reported on by the Daily Mail. The scheme, which costs some £600m and is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, supports around 589,000 claimants in England and Wales as of 2024. It allows beneficiaries to exchange part of their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for a car, powered wheelchair, or scooter, essentially giving them options tailored to their needs. It also allows friends or relatives to drive the vehicle on their behalf of the claimant, further expanding its usefulness. Furthermore, the initiative drives a significant portion of new car purchases in Britain - accounting for one in five sales across the country. This heavily supporting the automotive industry in the process and, in turn, creating jobs. ADHD/ADD: 9,090 Alcohol misuse: 770 Anxiety and depressive disorders: 32,160 Anxiety disorders - other/type not known: 2,600 Back pain: 6,760 Constipation: 20 Depressive disorder: 7,460 Elbow disorders - other/type not known: 50 Obesity: 800 OCD: 650 Phobia - social: 190 Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis): 40 Allergy risk of anaphylaxis unknown or not fully assessed: 10 Failure to thrive: 10 Food intolerance: 20 It provides those who are physically or mentally unable to gain access to reliable transportation - which can reduce isolation and improve mental health, thus enabling them to engage more fully in society. But there are claims that people are exploiting the system. Some influencers have even been found to boast online about obtaining these vehicles for minimal costs, and even advising others on how to maximise their benefits. Earlier this year, we reported on one balaclava-wearing influencer who gave viewers a step-by-step guide to obtaining PIP and Motability - and even suggested followers could take the government to court if turned down. In one video, he shows viewers how to pick up an Abarth 695 Sport, usually worth £31,000, for 'basically free'. He said: 'To get this car, all you have to do is pay £599. "This car is an automatic with nearly 200 brake horsepower, and it does 0-60 in 6.5 seconds. The Sun Says Motability scheme has been corrupted beyond recognition by obvious scammers CAN there be a greater example of how our welfare system has spiralled out of control than the grotesque monster that Motability has become? For decades the scheme provided a lifeline for profoundly disabled people. But since Covid, Motability has been allowed to mushroom into a massive industry way past its original remit. A system designed to help the most vulnerable use their Government PIP payments has now warped into a £7billion company supplying one in five new cars in Britain. How? Because thousands claiming to have issues such as anxiety have been allowed to sign up for luxury BMWs and Mercedes 4x4s. Taxpayers are now even coughing up for people who say they are depressed to claim free driving lessons. The Sun is NOT suggesting genuinely disabled people shouldn't be protected. But Motability has been corrupted beyond recognition by hordes of obvious scammers. Labour must ignore the hand-wringers, concentrate on the genuinely needy. And end this insanity once and for all. Hardly good news when debt has ballooned and billions for defence spending is urgently needed. She's right to try to slash the burdensome red tape unnecessarily tying up businesses. But here's a couple of bigger ideas for the Chancellor to add to her growth wish list: Axe Ed Miliband's ruinous Net Zero targets. And stop whacking taxes on families and business. "Did I mention it has a full exhaust system, which absolutely sounds insane?' And another user explained in a video how her four-year-old autistic daughter would be 'driven around in style' after replacing their Vauxhall Zafira with a new Skoda Kodiaq. The family motor is typically worth £36,000, but can be picked up on Motability for just £3,299. John O'Connell, at the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'The Government must look at the criteria before this situation gets worse.' But Motability Operations said: 'To use the Motability Scheme, you must receive a higher rate mobility allowance. 'Eligibility for the allowance is determined and awarded by the Government.' Another systemic issue flagged by critics is the three-year replacement cycle for vehicles provided through the scheme. It's argued that this timeframe is unnecessarily short, given the durability and longevity of modern day motors, while replacing vehicles every three years escalates costs and raises concerns about wastefulness. Labour peer John Mann questioned the necessity of such frequent replacements. He said: 'Motability is making too much money. It needs tighter criteria. There needs to be a return of some of this money they have accrued to the exchequer. 'I also question why it is necessary for its customers to change to a new vehicle so regularly. Cars last a long time and the whole point of Motability must be to help people live a normal life. Three years per car is too short a time frame.' While concerns around the scheme's overall financial management, eligibility criteria and misuse are certainly valid, the Motability scheme remains a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Brits with genuine mobility challenges. Many believe reforming the programme to address certain issues and prevent exploitation could ensure it continues to fulfil its mission - without compromising its vital role in supporting disabled individuals.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store