NHS trust in trans doctor tribunal fails to ban public from watching case

Telegraph

14-05-2025

An NHS board has failed in its attempt to prevent the public from watching a tribunal about a trans doctor allowed to use a female hospital changing room.
NHS Fife asked the judge overseeing the case brought by the nurse Sandie Peggie to remove public access to an online live stream of the employment tribunal's proceedings.
The Telegraph disclosed last month that the board wanted to restrict 'virtual viewing' of the tribunal so that only journalists could watch it when it restarts in July.
NHS Fife said the first stage of the tribunal was marred by 'technical issues and interruptions' from public observers watching online, which it said caused 'significant delays' to proceedings.
But it is understood that Sandy Kemp, the tribunal judge, has ruled that the public should be allowed to watch the case, in line with the principles of open justice.
He is also said to have rejected an application by NHS Fife to ban an open justice campaign group from posting live social media updates about the case on X.
The health board accused Ms Peggie of misconduct after she challenged the presence of Dr Beth Upton, who is a trans woman, in a female changing room at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy.
In May last year, Ms Peggie submitted a formal claim to an 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.
The first part of the Peggie tribunal was held two months before the Supreme Court ruled in a separate case that access to female-only areas should be based on biological sex.
This week, Ms Peggie welcomed the ruling and challenged NHS Fife to dump its policy of 'permitting any man who identifies as a woman access to female-only, single-sex spaces'.
For Women Scotland, the feminist campaign group that won the Supreme Court case, said it was delighted that the tribunal judge had 'upheld the principles of open justice' by allowing the public to continue watching proceedings.
Trina Budge, one of the group's directors, said: 'NHS Fife has behaved appallingly in seeking to have the remainder of this case heard behind closed doors.
'Yet another humiliation'
'They may well have good cause to be ashamed of how they have treated female staff, but it's vital this case plays out as it should in public.
'The details of how Sandie Peggie has been treated have shocked many women, and given the recent Supreme Court case ruling on single-sex spaces, there is much interest in seeing how this is resolved by the tribunal.'
Tess White, the Scottish Tories shadow equalities minister, said: 'This is yet another humiliation for NHS Fife and a welcome victory for common sense.
'Given the huge public interest in this case, it was appalling the health board was hellbent on keeping the public in the dark from proceedings.'
Last September, NHS Fife and Dr Upton sought an order to hold the tribunal in private and prevent the publication of the doctor's name, citing concerns about the medic's health and safety.
This was rejected on the grounds that the issues involved were of legitimate public debate and that open justice must be upheld.
A live stream of the tribunal, which started on Feb 3 this year, attracted huge numbers of public observers. But the viewing system that was used was similar to that in a conference call.
This meant that those observers who failed to mute their computer's microphones or switch off their cameras could be seen and heard on a large screen that had been erected in the tribunal.
Hearing behind closed doors
In one example, a woman who logged in could be seen and heard drying her hair. The judge limited access to the live stream to accredited journalists for the final days.
NHS Fife argued this temporary restriction on 'non-media observers' should be made permanent when the tribunal restarts on July 16.
Following a hearing behind closed doors last month, the judge has now ruled the board's request would be too prohibitive and the public should be able to view the live stream when the tribunal resumes.
It is understood he ruled errors in some of the tweets about the case from the Tribunal Tweets account did not justify banning it from providing further live coverage.
Tribunal Tweets permission to live-tweet proceedings in Peggie vs NHS Fife & Dr Upton remains in place. The respondents' application was denied. The tribunal is scheduled to resume on 16 July 2025. https://t.co/HqwAECA7ts pic.twitter.com/CI7b1t1z7b
— Tribunal Tweets (@tribunaltweets) May 14, 2025
An NHS Fife spokesman said: 'An approach was made by the tribunal for comment after a member of the public raised concerns about the accuracy of the live-tweeting from the Tribunal Tweets account during the earlier proceedings.
'Our legal representatives subsequently provided feedback to the tribunal and we accept today's decision.'