Latest news with #VictoriaHospital
Daily Record
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Record
Trans row nurse Sandi Peggie 'wanted to post bacon through mosque letterbox'
Sandie Peggie allegedly referred to people as "immigrants who need to go back to their own country" who "come over here to steal our jobs". Gender row nurse Sandie Peggie allegedly told colleagues that she 'wanted to post bacon through the letterbox of a mosque', a tribunal has heard. On Christmas Eve 2023, nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended from Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, after she complained about having to share a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton. 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. On Monday, emergency nurse practitioner Fiona Wishart, who has worked for NHS Fife for 41 years, told the tribunal she heard Ms 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, the tribunal heard. Ms 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. Ms Wishart said: '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.' Ms Wishart said that at the same lunch, Ms 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. Ms 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?' Ms 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.' Ms Russell asked: 'Did it go beyond 'weirdo', 'freak', and 'it'?' The witness said: 'No, I don't think so.' The tribunal also heard on Monday that Ms 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 had also been contacted by another potential witness. Ms 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 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 a new witness came forward. Ms Cunningham said: 'The truth is, we have known of many others. Ms Peggie's evidence is … lots of people agree. The difficulty is persuading anyone to come forward and tell the tribunal. That difficulty is because of the price of speaking up on these issues in NHS Fife.' She added: 'To this point she has been the single individual; there have been many, but she has been the only one to find the courage to speak up.' The tribunal continues. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Times
Trans doctor altered notes after changing room row, tribunal told
A transgender doctor edited notes on a phone to add patient safety concerns about a nurse hours after she challenged the doctor's right to use female changing rooms, a tribunal has been told. A landmark employment tribunal had previously been told that Beth Upton kept contemporaneous notes of interactions with Sandie Peggie, including claims that she had put patient safety at risk by failing to communicate with her senior colleague. Peggie is suing the health board for discrimination and harassment due to having to share a single-sex changing room with Upton, who was born male but now identifies as a woman. Peggie was suspended from work for several months after she confronted the doctor in women's changing rooms in Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, on Christmas Eve, 2023.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Trans doctor 'tried to mislead' tribunal over phone notes on Sandie Peggie
A trans doctor was trying to 'mislead' the landmark Sandie Peggie tribunal, it has been told. Phone notes made by female-identifying Dr Beth Upton following a dispute with the nurse had been edited, it was claimed. Ms Peggie was suspended from work at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, after she objected to the trans medic using the female changing area on Christmas Eve 2023. The 51-year-old has since launched an employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton. Yesterday it heard that NHS Fife did not commission a forensic or in-person check of Dr 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 hearing was told. And IT expert Jim Borwick agreed with the suggestion the trans doctor 'was trying to mislead' the tribunal. Mr Borwick, director of KJB Computer Forensics Consultancy, had been commissioned by Ms Peggie's representatives to compile a report in to the notes. 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'. 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.' But the tribunal heard it was edited on December 26 at 1.21am. Mr Borwick told the hearing: 'In addition to text on that date, this had been added so it is not contemporaneous.' Jane Russell, KC, for NHS Fife and Dr Upton, asked: 'When you said Dr Upton is silent on fact that notes can be re-arranged, you're suggesting that Dr Upton is trying to mislead the tribunal?' The IT expert told her: 'I suppose that's my comment, yes.' Ms Russell asked Mr Borwick if he had been instructed to come up with an 'explanation that there were lies on the part of Dr Upton' and to 'undermine Dr Upton's account of patient care allegations'. But the witness told her he was not 'trying to undermine anything', and added: 'I was told to recover notes about patient care allegations; no reason was given, just to recover those notes.' Ms Russell said in one screenshot, 'the conundrum is that the edited date predates the created date', and asked the witness if 'the only explanation for discrepancy is that Dr Upton is lying about creation dates?'. He said he could not recreate this, and nor could NHS Fife's information security manager Peter Donaldson. The tribunal heard a note entitled 'weird incident 26.08.23' was timestamped showing it was created on October 26, 2023, according to Google. Mr Donaldson told the tribunal: '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.'
BBC News
4 days ago
- Health
- 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.
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Transgender medic row could be viewed as hate crime, consultant tells tribunal
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.' Sandie Peggie and Dr Beth Upton both worked at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, when the incident occurred (Jane Barlow/PA) 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.
