NHS nurse Sandie Peggie ‘taking legal action' against union over trans row
Sandie Peggie was suspended from her job last year after she complained about having to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton, a transgender medic.
Ms Peggie was later placed on special leave after a complaint of bullying and harassment by Dr Upton, but was cleared by an NHS Fife investigation last week.
The suspension led to an employment tribunal this year, at which Ms Peggie launched a claim against Dr Upton and NHS Fife, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination and victimisation.
On Saturday, The Herald reported that Ms Peggie had taken legal action against the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), claiming it failed to support her after her suspension, which the union denies.
'The RCN's failure to act like a trade union ought to has contributed to Sandie Peggie's mistreatment,' Margaret Gribbon, Ms Peggie's lawyer, said in a statement.
'They have repeatedly failed to exercise their industrial muscle to advocate for female members distressed because they are being deprived of genuine single-sex spaces to dress and undress at work.
'Had the RCN fulfilled the conventional role of a trade union, it is less likely that Sandie would have faced the ordeal of an 18-month disciplinary process and having to raise legal proceedings against Fife Health Board.'
The Herald reported that Ms Peggie would be taking action for unlawful discrimination. An RCN spokesman told it: 'We have responded to the claim, and we deny all the allegations from Ms Peggie.'
The row centres on an encounter between Ms Peggie and Dr Upton on Dec 24, 2023. The nurse experienced a sudden and heavy period and feared that it had bled through to her scrubs.
She entered the female hospital changing room to find Dr Upton, and challenged the medic's presence. Within hours, a bullying complaint was lodged by Dr Upton.
Ms Peggie was placed on special leave, and then suspended, after Dr Upton made the allegation of bullying and harassment and cited concerns about 'patient care'.
'Biological sex is immutable'
In May last year, Ms Peggie submitted a formal claim to the employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Upton for sexual harassment, belief discrimination and victimisation.
The nurse complained of being required to share a single-sex space with someone she believed to be male and being victimised for holding a gender-critical belief that biological sex is immutable.
It was not possible for the doctor to have held a gender recognition certificate in December 2023, meaning the medic was legally male. However, Dr Upton claimed during the first part of the tribunal, in February, to be 'biologically female'.
It emerged on Wednesday this week, hours before the tribunal resumed, that Ms Peggie had been cleared of gross misconduct by an NHS Fife disciplinary hearing. However, the health board has so far ignored calls to stop contesting the tribunal.
In a statement, the health board previously said: 'NHS Fife did not initiate the tribunal proceedings and is instead one of two 'respondents' being sued.
'NHS Fife cannot unilaterally stop proceedings – only the claimant can choose to withdraw the case. The claimant has said in a recent statement from her legal representatives that she is determined to continue with her legal claim, as she is entitled to do.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
14 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The new stage four cancer treatments and what they mean for patients
A stage-four cancer diagnosis once sounded like the end of the road – after all, there is no stage five. When Joe Biden's prostate cancer was recently labelled 'aggressive' and described as having spread to his bones, many assumed the worst. Yet today, thanks to astonishing advances in cancer science, a stage-four label need not mean imminent death. 'Stage four means the cancer has spread to another part of the body further away from where it started,' explains Dr Ben O'Leary, a clinical oncologist at the Royal Marsden and a researcher at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). 'Most stage-four cancers still can't be cured, but our deeper understanding of how cancers evolve and grow means many people are living longer. In some cases, we now see responses, and yes, even cures, that weren't thought possible 10 years ago.' What's driving this optimism? Five types of cancer offer a snapshot of progress. Skip to: Prostate cancer Blood cancers Breast cancer Bladder cancer Lung cancer Prostate cancer By the age of 80, half of men harbour cancer in their prostate, though it proves fatal in only a small minority. Even so, around 12,000 men die of metastatic prostate cancer each year in the UK. Dr Anna Wilkins of the ICR and Royal Marsden says metastatic prostate cancer most often spreads to the bones. 'On scans, you can see up to 50 spots all over the skeleton. But there has been big progress in new drugs.' Total testosterone blockade Standard treatment reduces testosterone, the hormone that fuels tumour growth. Abiraterone, developed at the ICR, goes further by blocking its precursor hormones, extending survival significantly. Liquid radiotherapy This exciting development involves injecting patients with a radioactive liquid. Cancer cells 'drink' more of the liquid than healthy cells and the resulting burst of radiation destroys bone metastases. Liquid radiotherapy drug Radium-223 is already available on the NHS, while the even more potent Lutetium-177 PSMA is available privately and awaiting National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) appraisal. Multimodal first strikes 'We now combine hormone drugs – and sometimes chemotherapy – immediately after diagnosis,' says Dr Wilkins. Even resistant cancers respond to this approach. Treating the original tumour with radiotherapy, even in metastatic cases, also boosts survival: 'It's as if you're silencing a mothership that coordinates the metastases,' she says. While there is no cure yet, Dr Wilkins says, these approaches are turning stage-four prostate cancer into a condition many men will live with, not die from.
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
Thousands of homes at risk of damp and mould over botched insulation, government confirms
Tens of thousands of homes fitted with wall insulation installed under a popular scheme could cause owners serious health issues as the government warns of 'systemic' installation failures. Solid wall insulation was made available under two government-backed schemes over the past few years, allowing homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient for free. However, 'a majority' of the insulation granted under these schemes was not 'installed to the appropriate standard,' said Labour minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, adding that over time it could lead to damp and mould. In a statement to Commons, the minister for energy consumers added: 'The government is keen to encourage everyone who is contacted for the purposes of scheduling an audit to strongly consider taking part in these checks, even if they do not think there is anything wrong with their installation. 'Our priority remains to ensure that poor installations are identified and remediated as quickly as possible, with no cost to the consumer.' Crucially, anyone who is affected by the issue will not have to pay to fix the problem. Installers are required to foot the bill for the issue, and prove they have carried out the work properly with Trustmark, the independent body that oversees tradespeople working in homes. For anyone whose installer has stopped trading, a guarantee should cover the cost of removal up to £20,000. The botched insulations were installed under two initiatives: the ' Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4)' and 'Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS)'. They were launched by the government in April 2022 and May 2023, respectively. These schemes enabled eligible households to apply for free energy-efficiency upgrades through their energy supplier or local council – including solid wall insulation. Solid walls are most common in properties built before the 1920s. They have no gaps or cavities, and insulating them involves adding material to the inside or outside of them to trap heat. But a report published by Trustmark in January pointed to 'significant examples' of installations that fell short of the required standards. Since the findings were revealed, Ofgem has written to the 60,000 households understood to have had insulation fitted under the two schemes. Ms Fahnbulleh has confirmed that 'thousands of households have already had on site checks conducted,' adding that '90 per cent of the poor-quality installations that were identified in the initial audits conducted by Trustmark have been remediated." Anyone with concerns about their insulation or with more questions can contact Ofgem
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
UEA criticised for cutting three NHS mental health courses
A union has claimed a university's decision to cut three mental health courses represents "abandoning" training the region "desperately needs". The University College Union (UCU) reacted after The University of East Anglia (UEA) confirmed it would be making cuts to three courses - the High Intensity Therapy programme, the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner programme and the Clinical Associate in Psychology Masters Apprenticeship (CAPs) programme.A proposed reduction of 10.9 full-time equivalent roles has also been announced. A spokesperson for the UEA, said: "Applications for the courses only come from those in appropriate NHS roles, they are not open to self-funded students. Therefore, the continued delivery of the courses is no longer viable." The UEA said the courses had been affected by external factors including; NHS England restructuring, decreased uptake of NHS commissions for talking therapy programmes and a reduction in employment opportunities within the NHS for apprenticeship roles. It said the CAPs course, which is entitled to level-seven apprenticeship funding, ceases across all sectors from January mental health courses are open to NHS staff and current students already on the courses are said to have been informed of the cuts and will be supported by the university to complete their studies. However, the nearest university running these courses is in Essex. Staff have been informed and consultations with trade unions are under way. "Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort," the university said. 'Turning its back' The UEA announced last year it would be shedding 170 full-time equivalent posts as it tried to save £ said it would be shaving 3% from its budget and could not rule out any compulsory redundancies. The UCU said the decision to cut the courses "directly contradicts" the NHS's mission and commitment to expanding psychological services. A spokesperson said: "UCU has heard from senior NHS leaders that the East of England needs 150 new psychological well-being practitioners and 150 new CBT therapists in the next year alone."By closing these programmes, in the midst of a regional and national mental health crisis, UEA is turning its back on the region and abandoning its responsibility to train the mental health workers that our region desperately needs." It claimed the decision was down to the University Vice Chancellor's desire to "smooth over" "poor financial planning" and decision making. The union has called for the university to work with it to find a solution. The BBC has contacted NHS England for comment. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
