18-07-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Swinney must 'intervene' in NHS Fife case with Sandie Peggie
Hours before the employment tribunal resumed on Wednesday, the Kirkcaldy nurse was cleared of all four allegations of gross misconduct.
However, the employment tribunal continues, with Ms Peggie, an A&E nurse at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, suing her employer following a confrontation with a transgender medic on Christmas Eve 2023.
Ms Peggie said she entered the changing room in the emergency department and saw Dr Beth Upton, a trans woman.
The nurse said that in her view, the medic was a man who should not be in the room. She was placed of 'special leave' and suspended in January 2024 following a complaint by Dr Upton.
Former SNP minister Mr Ewing said Ms Peggie had been 'hounded and persecuted' for defending her right to single-sex spaces.
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NHS Fife revealed it has already spent around £220,000 defending the case – but Mr Ewing warns it could amount to a staggering £500,000 unless the health board 'throws in the towel'.
The First Minister, he said, must display leadership and use the Scottish Government's statutory powers under the National Health (Scotland) Act and the Public Health (Scotland) Act 2008.
These powers mean health boards must obey orders given by Scottish ministers.
'When my friend the late Alex Salmond won his judicial review case against the [[Scottish Government]], it was because they were forced to admit their defence was hopeless,' Mr Ewing said.
'The same applies in the case by Sandie Peggie, against the Fife Health Board, theirs is hopeless.'
He added: 'It is not actually the Fife board but the Scottish Government that will foot at least 90% of the legal fees.'
The outspoken MSP said NHS Fife would pay £25,000 of the legal tab, while the rest would be met from a Scottish Government fund known as the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme.
'Unless the Fife health board's towel is thrown in, as surely it should, the cost may be an eye-watering £500,000, or more,' Mr Ewing added.
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'Just think how many operations and health treatments could have been provided for half a million quid?
'That's why our First Minister, John Swinney, must now display guts and true leadership.
'He must surely step in and order the board to throw in the towel. It is his responsibility as the steward of these public funds.
'He will ultimately be responsible if they are wasted as surely, they will be, when Fife lose.'
Mr Ewing also said that Ms Peggie should be awarded 'full and proper compensation', while her legal costs covered, while the chair and chief executive of NHS Fife should 'be required to resign'.
Mr Swinney, and health secretary Neil Gray have both expressed their full confidence in the health board.
On Wednesday, Ms Peggie was cleared of allegations of unwanted behaviour towards another member of NHS Fife staff, and allegations of leaving patients 'unseen' because of the presence of Dr Upton.
NHS Fife said there was 'insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct'.
The health board said it was a 'complex and sensitive matter' but stressed the process had been 'appropriately followed'.
Mr Ewing's sister Annabelle, who is a sitting SNP MSP, described the tribunal as a 'farce'.
Her intervention came days after her Holyrood colleague Michelle Thomson demanded NHS bosses quit.
The Scottish Government has been asked for comment.
