Hundreds complain of ‘cover up' over NHS privacy bid in trans case

Yahoo

15-04-2025

More than 600 people have objected to a Scottish NHS trust's attempts to shut the public out of a transgender tribunal case.
They have complained that NHS Fife has no right to restrict access to the case about a transgender doctor being allowed to use a female hospital changing room.
Sandie Peggie, a nurse, is suing the health board on the grounds that she was subjected to harassment and discrimination after being suspended for objecting to sharing a changing room with Dr Beth Upton, a biological man who identifies as a woman.
The case, in Dundee, was adjourned in March and scheduled to resume in July after it emerged that NHS Fife had failed to disclose documents that Ms Peggie's lawyers deemed to be of material interest.
A closed hearing was held on Tuesday after the trust submitted an application for the tribunal to restrict access to a Cloud video platform, which allows members of the public to view proceedings remotely, when the case resumes.
NHS Fife has also asked Sandy Kemp, the tribunal judge, to revoke permission for Tribunal Tweets, a volunteer-led collective of citizen journalists, to live-report the proceedings.
The health board is understood to have raised concerns that errors were made during live reports when the tribunal started in February and it was concerned about 'fairness and accuracy'.
The application has attracted 634 complaints to the courts service.
At the weekend, a message was posted on the Mumsnet internet forum encouraging members to complain.
It warned that 'very few objections to NHS Fife's attempts to deny public access (in person or remote) to the second part of the hearing due in July' had been made.
It provided members with details of how to complain about the attempt 'to have justice done behind closed doors'.
Court documents submitted by lawyers on behalf of feminist campaign groups Sex Matters and For Women Scotland, Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, a policy analysis collective, and Tribunal Tweets argue that if the court approved NHS Fife's application, they and members of the public unable to attend in person would be 'shut out', removing their ability to scrutinise the case and share details with the wider public.
'The significance of remote hearings, as a tool for open justice, and of citizen journalism/policy and campaign work as a tool for public education about the law and the justice system cannot be overstated,' the submission states .
It said there are 'compelling public interest reasons which go to the fact that so many members of the public have sought to observe this case', adding: 'This case goes to one of the most pressing legal issues of our time. The issues around women's rights, access to women's spaces and the rights of biological males with trans identities have captured public concern like few others.
'There are very few other legal issues which the public at large perceive, rightly, to have so great a potential impact on their day-to-day lives, as well as involving matters of principle.'
Regarding live tweets of the case, the submission argues that any errors were minor and describes the health board's request for live-reporting to be banned as 'overblown and entirely disproportionate to the actual substance of their complaint'.
The submission also alleges 'a number of failures and omissions in terms of disclosure' by NHS Fife.
These relate to allegations that the health board was 'extraordinarily negligent' for failing to disclose documents related to an 'aborted' investigation into Ms Peggie.
It added: 'There are real and pressing concerns about the transparency with which their defence in this litigation has been conducted. Such concerns might be of public interest in any case, but particularly so when that defence has been conducted by and on behalf of a public institution and regulated professionals, funded out of taxpayers' money'.
MSP Tess White, the Scottish Conservative equalities spokesman said: 'Scots are understandably outraged at this attempt by NHS Fife to block public access to this hearing.
'There is huge interest in this case – because it is fundamental to women's rights – but this health board is doing everything in its power to keep it out of view from the public.
'Given that the taxpayer is footing a potentially massive bill for this case, NHS Fife shouldn't attempt to restrict access to open justice.'
It is understood that NHS Fife's application is still being considered by the tribunal.
In a statement released last week, NHS Fife said: 'During the hearing in February, the employment tribunal restricted Cloud video platform (virtual viewing) access to press/journalists due to technical issues, as well as interruptions caused by non-media observers.
'The technical issues and interruptions caused significant delays which impacted the tribunal's progress. A request has therefore been made that this approach be maintained in July. If these requests are granted, accredited media and press outlets will still be permitted to report on matters and in-person public access to the hearing will remain available.'
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