NHS nurse who complained about sharing changing room with transgender doctor cleared of bullying
Nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended from Victoria Hospital in Fife, Scotland in January last year after a transgender medic, Dr Beth Upton, made allegations of bullying and harassment towards Ms Peggie.
Ms Peggie was stood down while the hospital board considered four gross misconduct allegations against her, including one of misgendering the doctor and over an encounter with the doctor in the female-only changing room.
Dr Upton also cited concerns about 'patient care'.
Ms Peggie then took the health board and the doctor to the employment tribunal, lodging her own complaint of sexual harassment over incidents in that changing room.
Ms Peggie's lawyer, Margaret Gribbon, said the night before the tribunal was due to recommence hearings, the Fife health board decided not to uphold the misconduct allegations towards her client.
'Sandie is relieved and delighted that this 18-month-long internal process has concluded and cleared her of all allegations," she said.
NHS Fife confirmed it had concluded its internal investigation into the nurse's conduct.
"It considered several allegations, including regarding interactions between colleagues and patient care," the health board said.
"After reviewing the evidence presented, including written submissions and witness testimony, the panel found that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct.
"While no formal sanctions have been imposed, the panel concluded that a facilitated reflective practice discussion would be appropriate."
The employment tribunal hearing will continue to take place and is expected to resume on Wednesday and last 11 days.
The tribunal began in Dundee in February but resumes after the UK Supreme Court ruled in April that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'.
NHS Fife has spent more than £220,000 defending itself in the employment tribunal so far.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
IT expert says trans doctor's phone claims 'not possible'
Phone records in a tribunal involving a row between a nurse and a trans doctor were not examined in person or Donaldson, an information security manager for NHS Fife, instead joined a Teams call with Dr Beth Upton in May this year to assist in downloading notes from a mobile notes related to encounters the doctor had with Sandie Peggie, a nurse at the Victoria Hospital in Donaldson told the tribunal that "time was limited" but that it would have been "more beneficial" to have carried out the exercise in person. Ms Peggie and Dr Upton had a row on 24 December 2023 in the women's changing rooms, regarding whether the doctor should be allowed in there. The nurse was then suspended after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment and cited concerns about "patient care".Ms Peggie has since lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act tribunal previously heard Dr Upton had recorded details of alleged incidents involving Ms Peggie prior to Christmas Eve in written notes on a asked if the "most reliable" way to ensure the phone information was accurate would have been to carry out a forensic examination, Mr Donaldson also agreed that an in-person meeting would have been better than a Teams call. Mr Donaldson said he could not offer a technical explanation for why the notes, including one entitled Weird Incident, showed a creation date of October 2023 but listed an edited date of August witness told the tribunal "he didn't believe for a minute that [Dr Upton] was trying to lead us up to the garden path" with was later stated by Dr Upton's legal team that other notes on the phone unrelated to Ms Peggie - including a shopping list - had the same issue with dates. Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal Another IT expert told the tribunal it "just isn't possible" to edit a mobile phone note prior to the date it is consultant James Borwick said only a "catastrophic event" at Google would have resulted in the phone saying a note had been edited before being Borwick was hired by Ms Peggie's legal team to examine the phone records but denied he had been instructed to undermine Dr to explain screenshots highlighting the disparity between dates Mr Borwick said the "version history" of the phone notes appeared to have been added that he had attempted to recreate the same scenario with a phone and editing dates before creating them, but without told the panel "it's just not possible". The tribunal heard Dr Upton made additions to phone notes in the days after the Christmas Eve incident, including to a note from 18 December - the date Dr Upton has accused Ms Peggie of risking patient care with her stated "working nights, won't make eye contact, won't acknowledge my presence, haven't had direct conversation but can feel the dismissal/hostility" and was then added to in the early hours of 26 Russell KC, who represents NHS Fife and Dr Upton, suggested to Mr Borwick he had been instructed to produce evidence that Dr Upton was lying - a claim that prompted an immediate objection from Ms Peggie's legal Russell later questioned whether a comment in Mr Borwick's report saying Dr Upton was "silent on the matter" of phone notes was an "irresponsible accusation".He replied that, with hindsight, perhaps it Borwick said he had hoped to meet Dr Upton about the phone situation, but the meeting was cancelled by Ms Peggie's legal team. The tribunal will continue next week.
North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Transgender medic row could be viewed as hate crime, consultant tells tribunal
Nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended after she complained about having to share a changing-room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Eve 2023. She was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment, and cited concerns about 'patient care'. Ms Peggie has lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment; harassment related to a protected belief; indirect discrimination; and victimisation. Dr Maggie Currer, deputy clinical lead at NHS Fife, gave evidence to the tribunal in Dundee on Friday. She said she sent a 'need-to-know' email about the incident to five members of the senior leadership team on January 5, 2024 and suggested 'HR would be the most appropriate people to contact'. She disputed an assertion put to her by Jane Russell KC, representing NHS Fife and Dr Upton, that the health board 'permits staff to use facilities which align with gender identity'. Dr Currer said: 'That hasn't been my experience, I think it is considered on a case-by-case basis.' Her email described the Christmas Eve dispute as 'similar' to an incident of a patient racially abusing a doctor, the tribunal heard. Dr Currer said: 'My understanding is incidents of aggressive or abusive behaviour directed to anyone of a protected characteristic could be considered to be a hate crime.' She told the tribunal she believed she had been informed of the dispute as she had worked at NHS Fife for 15 years. Dr Currer said she was aware of Ms Peggie's gender-critical views as she had overheard her talking about them. She said: 'I was aware. I was aware by report, from directly overhearing. I have also heard Ms Peggie directly articulate those views. 'This is from memory and some time ago, but I have certainly heard Ms Peggie articulate that it was not possible to change your sex.' She said she first met Dr Upton during a teaching session and the junior doctor had made a disclosure about her trans identity. Dr Currer said: 'Dr Upton said to me, was I aware she was trans, she said she just wanted to let me know.' The consultant also said she had contacted equality lead Isla Bumba by telephone in August 2023 about Dr Upton's right to use female changing facilities. The tribunal continues.
Rhyl Journal
2 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Transgender medic row could be viewed as hate crime, consultant tells tribunal
Nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended after she complained about having to share a changing-room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Eve 2023. She was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment, and cited concerns about 'patient care'. Ms Peggie has lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment; harassment related to a protected belief; indirect discrimination; and victimisation. Dr Maggie Currer, deputy clinical lead at NHS Fife, gave evidence to the tribunal in Dundee on Friday. She said she sent a 'need-to-know' email about the incident to five members of the senior leadership team on January 5, 2024 and suggested 'HR would be the most appropriate people to contact'. She disputed an assertion put to her by Jane Russell KC, representing NHS Fife and Dr Upton, that the health board 'permits staff to use facilities which align with gender identity'. Dr Currer said: 'That hasn't been my experience, I think it is considered on a case-by-case basis.' Her email described the Christmas Eve dispute as 'similar' to an incident of a patient racially abusing a doctor, the tribunal heard. Dr Currer said: 'My understanding is incidents of aggressive or abusive behaviour directed to anyone of a protected characteristic could be considered to be a hate crime.' She told the tribunal she believed she had been informed of the dispute as she had worked at NHS Fife for 15 years. Dr Currer said she was aware of Ms Peggie's gender-critical views as she had overheard her talking about them. She said: 'I was aware. I was aware by report, from directly overhearing. I have also heard Ms Peggie directly articulate those views. 'This is from memory and some time ago, but I have certainly heard Ms Peggie articulate that it was not possible to change your sex.' She said she first met Dr Upton during a teaching session and the junior doctor had made a disclosure about her trans identity. Dr Currer said: 'Dr Upton said to me, was I aware she was trans, she said she just wanted to let me know.' The consultant also said she had contacted equality lead Isla Bumba by telephone in August 2023 about Dr Upton's right to use female changing facilities. The tribunal continues.
