Latest news with #DrBethUpton
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
Trans tribunal nurse accused of wanting to "post bacon" to mosque
The nurse at the centre of a tribunal involving a transgender doctor allegedly told colleagues she wanted to post bacon through the letterbox of a local Peggie made the comment at a work lunch with colleagues, along with other remarks insulting transgender people, according to testimony from Fiona Wishart, another nurse with NHS Fife. According to another colleague Ms Peggie shared racist jokes in a WhatsApp chat regarding the flooding that killed thousands in Pakistan in 2022. Ms Peggie is to return on Tuesday to give additional evidence in the tribunal, at the request of her legal team. The nurse was suspended by NHS Fife in January 2024 following a row with Dr Beth Upton regarding the doctor being allowed in a women's changing has since lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act Wishart, who has worked for NHS Fife for 41 years, told the tribunal Ms Peggie's comment regarding a mosque in Kirkcaldy was made on 4 September 2023. She said Ms Peggie said "she had a good mind to post bacon through their letterbox" and that the comment stood out in her mind because it was Peggie's lawyer Naomi Cunningham suggested the comment had been made several years previously by a male paramedic, and Ms Wishart was choosing to falsely attribute it to Ms denied this, and said it was definitely the nurse who made the said other comments regarding Dr Upton were made at the lunch, but could not recall the details of what words were other colleagues had told her Ms Peggie had referred to Dr Upton as "weirdo", "freak" and "it". Later testimony by nurse Lindsey Nicoll said Ms Peggie had used those terms in conversation and in a WhatsApp chat for a group of nurses who sometimes holidayed to messages from the chat, Dr Upton's looks were mocked and was referred to as having a "pathetic voice" by Ms Peggie in the Nicoll said she believed the comments were "disrespectful" and made her feel added her main concern was with how Ms Peggie expressed her Cunningham suggested it was "not wholly unfair" to call Dr Upton a "weirdo", and that if any man walked into the women's changing rooms they would "be considered a voyeur" and therefore it would be reasonable to suggest they were what the lawyer called a creep or a weirdo. This was in reference to an incident where Ms Peggie had messaged a colleague's husband by accident and asked for a picture of "the weirdo", thinking she was messaging a different colleague. The husband then replied with a picture of his wife in a fancy dress costume, an incident that annoyed her and led to the wife complaining about Ms Peggie to Ms Nicoll. Pakistan flooding The tribunal also heard Ms Peggie posted racist jokes in the chat referencing flooding in Pakistan. Among the comments were "what goes around comes around – Pakistan has been flooding Britain for years" and crude jokes about Asian Cunningham asked why Ms Nicoll had not criticised her at the time. She replied that she wished she had remonstrated with lawyer asked if Ms Nicoll's actions in speaking to the tribunal were due to her "having it in" for Ms Peggie, referencing a text message from Ms Nicoll saying she hoped Ms Peggie would be struck off. She denied this claim, and said she was giving testimony so people could "understand Sandie's character" and that there was no place for "bigotry in nursing."Ms Wishart had also alleged Ms Peggie made racial remarks, particularly regarding immigrants.A previous session of the tribunal had seen texts sent by Ms Peggie where she complained that "everyone stands up for the minority", referencing Dr Upton. Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal Other chat messages involved discussing Imane Khelif, who won women's welterweight gold at the Paris Olympics last year amid a row over gender Nicoll also said Ms Peggie spoke to her after a family member came out as said: "She was devastated about a family member being gay and asked me 'how I coped with two family members being gay'.Ms Nicoll said the use of coping suggested Ms Peggie was upset about her family member being Cunningham suggested being upset was a "reasonable" reaction to the news as various reasons could cause it, such as fear of relatives suffering homophobia. Extra witnesses Earlier the tribunal panel agreed for further witnesses to appear on Tuesday, with a timescale described as "extremely tight".Ms Peggie's legal team said gender critical group Sex Matters were contacted at the weekend by a witness who shared the nurse's objections over sharing a changing room with Dr Upton and "found the courage to come forward".A representative of Sex Matters has now been called to discuss this evidence. The team had also been contacted by another potential Cunningham said that the way Ms Peggie had been treated by NHS Fife had "frightened off" other potential witnesses who shared her views, and that the nurse "has been the only one to find the courage to speak up" until judge Sandy Kemp said the Tuesday schedule - which will also feature cross-examination of Dr Maggie Currer, a consultant in emergency medicine – was the only way to ensure all evidence was heard without extending the tribunal any further.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Sandie Peggie ‘wanted to post bacon through mosque letterbox', tribunal told
SANDIE Peggie allegedly told colleagues that she 'wanted to post bacon through the letterbox of a mosque', a tribunal has heard. The nurse 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'. Peggie then 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. READ MORE: On Monday, emergency nurse practitioner Fiona Wishart, who has worked for NHS Fife for 41 years, told the tribunal she heard Peggie making 'derogatory' remarks about Dr Upton at a lunch on September 4, 2023, and making 'offensive' comments about a mosque being built in the town. Wishart said: 'I was at a lunch with fellow colleagues. Sandie had made remarks about Beth at the lunch, derogatory remarks.' She said she had forgotten details but was told the comments were 'weirdo', 'freak' and 'it', although she also said those terms were not used at the lunch, the tribunal heard. Wishart added: 'I've heard her make derogatory remarks regarding people of other ethnic origins and people of other sexual orientations … referring to people as 'immigrants who need to go back to their own country', and 'come over here to steal our jobs'. 'These are opinions that don't align with mine.' Wishart said that at the same lunch, Peggie had commented on a new mosque being built in Fife, and 'made reference to the fact she had a good mind to post bacon through their letterbox', the tribunal heard. Wishart added: 'I specifically remember it because I found it offensive.' Counsel for both respondents, Jane Russell KC, said: 'When she said that, how did others respond?' Wishart said: 'I can't remember, but she made derogatory remarks about Beth, and my colleague that was at the lunch, Lindsey Nicoll, responded, but I can't remember what she said.' Russell asked: 'Did it go beyond 'weirdo', 'freak', and 'it'?' The witness said: 'No, I don't think so.' On Monday, the tribunal also heard that Peggie's legal team were contacted at the weekend by a witness who shared her objections over sharing a changing room with Dr Upton and 'found the courage to come forward'. The team said it had also been contacted by another potential witness. Peggie's barrister, Naomi Cunningham, described the case as 'extraordinary', and 'the first case in which the practical working out of the implications of For Women Scotland judgment will have to be addressed in relation to single-sex spaces'. She said that the way Peggie had been treated by NHS Fife had 'frightened off' other potential witnesses who shared her views, and that the nurse 'has been the only one to find the courage to speak up' until a new witness came forward. The tribunal continues.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Phone notes made by trans doctor after nurse dispute were edited, tribunal told
Phone notes made by a transgender doctor following a dispute with a nurse had been edited, a tribunal has heard. An employment tribunal was told on Friday that NHS Fife did not commission a forensic or in-person examination of Dr Beth Upton's phone in May 2025. The health board's security analyst 'did not have a technical answer' for discrepancies on dates on Google Notes made by Dr Upton, the tribunal heard. Sandie Peggie was suspended after she complained about having to share a changing room with Dr Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Eve 2023. The nurse 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. The tribunal heard entries on Google Notes had 'discrepancies' between the date of editing and date of creation. Independent IT expert Jim Borwick, director of KJB Computer Forensics Consultancy, was commissioned by Ms Peggie's representatives and agreed he was suggesting the doctor 'was trying to mislead' the tribunal. In a report, Mr Borwick wrote 'Dr Upton is silent on fact that Notes can be rearranged with relative ease', and that he was 'perplexed' and 'at a loss' as to how the discrepancies had occurred, and was told 'notes did not include patient care allegations Dr Upton made about Ms Peggie', the tribunal heard. One note from December 18, 2023 logged 'working nights, won't make eye contact, won't acknowledge my presence, haven't had direct conversation but can feel the dismissal/hostility', which was edited on December 26 at 1.21am, the tribunal heard. Mr Borwick said: 'In addition to text on that date, this had been added so it is not contemporaneous.' He confirmed he was 'suggesting that Dr Upton is trying to mislead the tribunal', when asked by Jane Russell KC, representing NHS Fife and Dr Upton. Ms Russell said: 'When you said Dr Upton is silent on fact that notes can be rearranged, you're suggesting that Dr Upton is trying to mislead the tribunal?' The IT expert said: 'I suppose that's my comment, yes.' Ms Russell asked if he had been instructed 'to come up with explanation that there were lies on the part of Dr Upton' and to 'undermine Dr Upton's account of patient care allegations'? The witness said: 'I don't think we were trying to undermine anything, it was just a case of trying to look at these notes.' He added: 'I was told to recover notes about patient care allegations; no reason was given, just to recover those notes.' He suggested a Teams meeting should have been recorded, and that screenshots could have been 'superimposed' on notes. Ms Russell said in one screenshot 'the conundrum is that the edited date predates the created date', and asked if 'the only explanation for discrepancy is that Dr Upton is lying about creation dates'. The witness said: 'I can't recreate this, Mr Donaldson [Peter Donaldson, information security manager for NHS Fife] can't; this can't happen. It just can't happen that way.' However, Ms Peggie's junior counsel, Charlotte Elves, said she was 'astonished' at a suggestion that anyone 'would have instructed an expert to lie, or that an expert would accept such instructions'. The tribunal heard a note titled 'weird incident 26.08.23' was timestamped showing it was created on October 26, 2023, according to Google. The tribunal also heard evidence that Dr Upton was remotely supervised at one point during a Teams call by Mr Donaldson. Giving evidence, Mr Donaldson said: 'I don't believe Dr Upton was trying to mislead us in any way. 'I completely agree this is how Google presents; on the face of it the October date is the earliest date. I don't dispute that. The notes supplementary to that are the same.' Ms Elves said: 'This quandary that we've got about creation on October 26, as I understand it, there's no understandable technical explanation?' Mr Donaldson said: 'Not that I'm aware of.' Ms Elves said: 'You say you don't believe Dr Upton was trying to mislead the tribunal but presumably accept that is one explanation for this inexplicable phenomenon?' The witness said: 'It is a possibility but I don't believe that's the case.' Ms Elves said: 'Going back to apparent difficulty with the screenshots, I think you told the tribunal that you can't fathom any technological explanation; do you accept that one explanation for images that purport to show the inexplicable is they have been manipulated?' Mr Donaldson said: 'I can't say it's impossible.' The tribunal continues.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Trans doctor's boss breaks down in tears while being questioned at tribunal
A medical consultant broke down in tears while being quizzed at a landmark employment tribunal. Dr Kate Searle, a consultant in emergency medicine, sobbed as she defended her actions in the dispute between trans medic Dr Beth Upton and veteran nurse Sandie Peggie. At one point proceedings were halted to allow Dr Searle, who has worked for NHS Fife for 11 years, to compose herself. It came during an intensive day of cross-examination of the trans medic's boss by Ms Peggie's legal team as part of the high-profile employment tribunal brought against NHS Fife and Dr Upton. The nurse was suspended from her work at Victoria Hospital, in Kirkcaldy, after she challenged the 30-year-old doctor in the female-only changing room on Christmas Eve 2023. Last week the 51-year-old was cleared of gross misconduct but the separate employment tribunal continues. Ms Peggie brought the legal action saying her treatment is against the Equality Act. Dr Upton has alleged that there have been patient safety concerns involving the nurse. A healthcare assistant is said to be witness to one of two claimed incidents but when the worker's name was mentioned Dr Searle began sobbing, and told the court: 'I am worried involving someone who doesn't want to be involved in the press in this case. It's not fair on her.' The hearing was brought to a halt, but resumed about five minutes later. Ms Peggie's lawyer, Naomi Cunningham, told the tribunal the healthcare assistant was an 'important witness in the investigation' because she was the only person who was able to shed any light on Dr Upton's allegation the claimant refused to engage with the medic in relation to a patient who had gone away without being seen. But she said the healthcare assistant's account 'contradicted' Dr Upton's stance who said there had been no conversation while the worker remembered there being one. The tribunal then heard of a subsequent discussion between the consultant and healthcare assistant, but Dr Searle could not remember when. Dr Searle said she sought out the worker because she was supporting Dr Upton and the medic had identified her as witnessing one of the incidents which needed evidence. Ms Cunningham said the consultant had been 'determinedly acting on Dr Upton's behalf' to try to round up evidence in support of Dr Upton's version of events, but Dr Searle told her she asked to see 'if her story supported Beth's'. Amid the intense cross-examination the lawyer put it to the witnesses: 'Were you horrified when I mentioned her name, not out of a desire to protect her but out of a desire to protect yourself from the possible consequences of making up something about what she'd said?' Dr Searle told her: 'No, absolutely not.' At this point NHS Fife KC Jane Russell said the witness had become 'visibly distressed', but Dr Searle said she could continue with her evidence. The alleged patient safety incidents were not reported at the time they were said to have happened, and Dr Searle said she did not agree with Ms Cunningham's suggestion that this was the case because 'they didn't happen'. Dr Searle said it was 'offensive and objectional' to have challenged Dr Upton in the women's changing room. She told Ms Cunningham: 'If everybody was just kind to each other and went about these things in another way, there was no reason for it to come to this.' Dr Searle had sent an email to other consultants working in the hospital's emergency department - in which she condemned Ms Peggie's actions. But Ms Cunningham said the consultant had 'left confidentiality in ruins' by sending that email while an investigation was ongoing adding the conversation with the healthcare worker was a 'flagrant breach' in confidentiality. Dr Searle admitted: 'In hindsight, yes.' The tribunal also heard Ms Russell object to Dr Upton being called a man by Ms Cunningham, but insist 'she's a trans woman'. Ms Cunningham said the For Women Scotland Supreme Court ruling in April meant 'legally speaking a trans woman is a man so there was a man in the women's changing room', but Ms Russell said she disagreed with that summary. Put to the witness that Dr Upton was 'obviously male', Dr Searle said 'no' and that she would 'not have known what sex Dr Upton was assigned at birth'. Meanwhile, employment judge Sandy Kemp yesterday said he would not issue an order against NHS Fife following their stunning intervention in the case last week. Mr Kemp said: 'I have considered the press release issued by the first respondent on July 18, 2025, which had been addressed in submission by the parties, and it was decided to make no order in relation to it.' The tribunal, being heard in Dundee, continues.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Boss of trans doctor in case of nurse suspended for challenging medic's use of female changing room denies she 'deliberately' concealed a 'seriously embarrassing' email from tribunal
Lawyers for a nurse suspended after complaining about sharing a changing room with a trans medic have accused a group of senior doctors of hiding an email in a bid to conceal alleged wrongdoing. Sandie Peggie, 51, is suing NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton after she was suspended for confronting the trans doctor when she was made to change next to her in a female-only changing room. Yesterday lawyers for Ms Peggie claimed that a consultant in emergency medicine at the hospital had failed to hand over a 'seriously embarrassing' email to the tribunal. Naomi Cunningham KC claimed Dr Kate Searle failed to hand over the email which showed an alleged attempt to 'set up and coordinate a group' of witnesses in the investigation into complaints made against Ms Peggie. The accusation came as Dr Searle - the senior medic who supervised Dr Beth Upton and helped complete a report following the incident between the trans doctor and Ms Peggie - gave evidence to the tribunal in Dundee. On Tuesday Dr Searle denied 'deliberately concealing' an email sent between six potential witnesses discussing an investigation into Ms Peggie. During cross-examination, Dr Searle was asked about a number of emails, including one to six respondents referring to a 'small need to know group' to help avoid 'foot in mouth syndrome'. Ms Cunningham KC said there was 'something a bit odd going on here' as there were separate chains with the same subject line, which looked as if they were connected but she said there were earlier messages in the chain which appeared to have been deleted. Ms Cunningham KC said an email looked as if it had not been submitted to the tribunal when it should have been, and there was a further email that should have appeared at the bottom of a chain that was 'for some reason, chopped off'. 'But on the face of this email, it is quite understandable, isn't it, why those involved in that small need to know group might have preferred not to have it looked at in the course of this tribunal,' the lawyer said. She added that the email was 'seriously embarrassing' to NHS Fife and Dr Upton. She said: 'It talks about a live investigation. It says in terms that Esther [Davidson, Ms Peggie's supervisor], who a few days earlier and then again until the end of February is going to be the investigator, it says in terms Esther cannot do it, as she has been involved in the discussions with Sandie previously. 'It appears to be an intention to set up and coordinate a group of people who should not be talking about this investigation to each other because they are witnesses. 'It says in terms this information must not be shared with anyone outside this group, and it talks about the risk of foot in mouth syndrome. It is in itself, quite a serious case of foot in mouth syndrome, isn't it?' Dr Searle said she could 'appreciate that in hindsight, we should not have written these things in a group email to witnesses'. 'And having done that, everybody involved in that chain had quite good reason to prefer that it shouldn't see the light of day,' argued Ms Cunningham. Dr Searle responded: 'I cannot comment whether this email was withheld. I don't think you can prove that these two emails are linked. 'And when we were all asked by the IT department to do a thorough search of our emails, we did so, and this email was produced.' Ms Cunningham said: 'But you were asked to do some degree of search of emails on the previous trawls, and this email wasn't produced. Was it? You didn't produce it in time for the first part of this hearing, in response to the January 3 order.' Ms Cunningham said there were six people copied on the email. She asked if all those copied in had agreed between them that none of them would produce it. 'Absolutely not,' Dr Searle replied. Ms Cunningham said: 'I would suggest to you that you deliberately defied an order of the tribunal to conceal your own wrongdoing and that of your colleagues.' 'I absolutely do not agree with that,' Dr Searle said. 'If you had done that, it would be dishonest. Wouldn't it?' Ms Cunningham asked. 'It would be dishonest to do that, and I am a doctor who acts as honestly as I can at all times.' She agreed that it would be an issue for the regulator if she, as a doctor, had not acted with honesty and integrity. Hearings, in Dundee, continue.
