NHS nurse’s tribunal over trans doctor’s use of changing room adjourns
The employment tribunal brought by a NHS Fife nurse who objected to sharing a changing room with a transgender woman has adjourned ahead of closing submissions to be heard in September.Sandie Peggie, who has worked as a nurse for more than 30 years, is claiming she was subject to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act when she was expected to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton.The tribunal heard a further two weeks of witness evidence concluding on Tuesday.It is being watched closely for how it may be influenced by April’s landmark judgment by the supreme court, which ruled the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who held gender recognition certificates.The ruling has been publicly welcomed by Peggie and her supporters.
In earlier evidence, Peggie said she had felt “embarrassed and intimidated” when Upton started to get changed alongside her, leading to a heated exchange on Christmas Eve in 2023, the details of which are disputed,NHS Fife has previously described Peggie’s action as “unnecessary and vexatious”,Upton is also disputing it,Recalled to give evidence a second time on Tuesday, Peggie told her lawyer Naomi Cunningham that a number of other women shared her concerns about Upton but were reluctant to come forward because of the “very toxic” situation with the health board,She named 13 NHS Fife workers including receptionists and a consultant who agreed that a transgender woman should not be using the women’s changing rooms.
Peggie was also questioned about allegations made by colleagues who previously gave evidence that she used racist slurs in chat messages and described Upton as a “weirdo”.Defending comments about flooding in Pakistan as “dark humour”, she also admitted she had used racial slurs but said she was “brought up like that”, and that it was not a “politically correct way”.She said when she asked for a photograph of Upton and used the phrase “that weirdo”, it was a picture from a night out “where he looked like a man in a dress”.Under questioning by Jane Russell KC, representing Upton and NHS Fife, she denied “waging a hate campaign against Dr Upton”.Peggie told the tribunal: “I don’t have any bad feelings about trans people, I just don’t believe they should be in the women’s changing room.
I still believe a trans woman is a man and shouldn’t be in the female changing room.”Peggie was suspended after she complained about having to share a changing room with Upton at the hospital on Christmas Eve in 2023.She was then placed on special leave and later suspended after Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment and cited concerns about “patient care”.At the start of the second evidence hearing, NHS Fife confirmed Peggie had been cleared of the separate gross misconduct allegations after an 18-month internal process.Earlier in evidence, Gillian Malone, the head of nursing at NHS Fife, told the tribunal she could not recall seeing the risk assessment that led to Peggie’s suspension.
Last week, the two senior lawyers clashed after Russell argued that Peggie’s legal team were “confusing” those giving evidence by referring to the doctor as “he” and “him” and “creating a hostile environment for my witnesses”.In January, the employment judge Sandy Kemp rejected an NHS Fife request to impose an order preventing the use of male pronouns or terms to refer to Upton, concluding it was “unfair” to ask Peggie and her lawyers to use terms they consider “inaccurate”.
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The first NHS AI-run physiotherapy clinic has halved the waiting list for back pain and musculoskeletal services, according to the NHS trust where the pilot has taken place.More than 2,500 patients living in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were able to access Flok Health, a physiotherapy platform run by AI, over a 12-week period starting in February.The platform, which was created using video footage of a human physiotherapist, provides same-day automated video appointments with a digital physiotherapist via an app that responds to information given by a patient in real time.When the clinic was first launched in Cambridgeshire, waiting times for elective community musculoskeletal (MSK) services in the region were about 18 weeks.The waiting times for all MSK conditions decreased by 44% over the course of the 12-week period due to the use of Flok combined with other initiatives such as community assessment days, according to Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS trust (CCS), which deployed the services in those areas of England
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You are right to highlight, in your editorial, the folly of the government’s decision to make it harder for migrant workers to find work as carers in the UK (The Guardian view on Labour’s visa crackdown in social care: another problem for an overstretched system, 22 July).It’s a cynical political move aimed at spiking Reform UK’s guns on immigration, rather than alleviating pressure on the much-maligned care sector. Migrant workers are indispensable in filling roles that have been undervalued, underpaid and unwanted for too long.With thousands more care professionals needed to look after our ageing population, the government needs a joined-up approach if the crisis-ridden sector is to be transformed.While the government’s fair pay agreement is the first step in turning care around, ministers must think again on their approach to foreign help – and, closer to home, announce the funding to make the fair pay agreement a reality
Green burials – the biodegradable alternative | Letter
For those who find the idea of burning their deceased friend’s body distasteful (‘The delivery man arrived with the ashes in a gift bag’ – why are so many people opting out of traditional funerals?, 23 July), an alternative to direct cremation is a green burial, which costs more but not excessively so. Here, the grave is not permanent, and everything that goes in it has to be biodegradable – this rules out embalming. Coffins must be made of cardboard or untreated wood – woven willow is becoming very popular. No permanent memorial is allowed, but usually a wooden plaque can be added, which will last for several years if oiled. Natural wildflowers can often be planted, but vases cannot be used
NHS nurse’s tribunal over trans doctor’s use of changing room adjourns
The employment tribunal brought by a NHS Fife nurse who objected to sharing a changing room with a transgender woman has adjourned ahead of closing submissions to be heard in September.Sandie Peggie, who has worked as a nurse for more than 30 years, is claiming she was subject to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act when she was expected to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton.The tribunal heard a further two weeks of witness evidence concluding on Tuesday. It is being watched closely for how it may be influenced by April’s landmark judgment by the supreme court, which ruled the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who held gender recognition certificates. The ruling has been publicly welcomed by Peggie and her supporters
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