TRANS DOCTOR HAD ‘RIGHT’ TO USE FEMALE CHANGING ROOM
An NHS health board’s equality and diversity department advised that a transgender doctor had a “right” to use a female changing room, an employment tribunal has heard.
Sandie Peggie, a nurse with 30 years’ experience, raised concern with managers at NHS Fife after Dr Beth Upton, who was born a biological man and identifies as a woman, used a female changing room at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.
The tribunal heard that Ms Peggie, 50, complained to Esther Davidson, a clinical nurse manager, who said she knew that Dr Upton identified as a woman but had not considered what this meant in terms of which changing facilities she should use.
Ms Davidson told the tribunal that she took advice from NHS Fife’s equality and diversity department and was advised “that Beth had a right to use the female changing room as she was a transgender woman and identified as a woman”.
Ms Davidson said that Ms Peggie was “upset” when she was informed that Dr Upton would not be excluded from the female changing room.
Ms Peggie, 50, was later suspended for alleged bullying and harassment after she challenged Dr Upton for using the female changing room on Christmas Eve 2023, owing to her belief that the medic is male and should not have been there.
Dr Upton, 28, previously said the tribunal led to feelings of “upset”.
The doctor has repeatedly rejected the idea of being male and last week insisted “I’m biologically female”, adding that sex had “no defined or agreed meaning in science”.
Ms Peggie has taken the Fife health board and Dr Upton to tribunal after being suspended on Jan 3, 2024. Her suspension was initially for four weeks but later extended for another four weeks due to delays starting the investigation, the tribunal heard.
Ms Peggie’s line manager, Ms Davidson, gave evidence on Thursday to the tribunal in Dundee.
She said she was initially appointed to an investigation into what happened but was removed from it around the end of February, about two months later, when it was recognised that she would be a witness. It was then restarted.
She said she was made aware of allegations that Ms Peggie would not engage with Dr Upton when they worked together in the emergency department of the Victoria Hospital, which raised concern “that there was some patient safety issues”.
In suspending Ms Peggie, Ms Davidson told the tribunal: “I made the decision to suspend Sandie on a temp basis with the hope that investigation could happen quite quickly.
“The allegations that were made could have been perceived to be harassment and bullying and to interfere with patient care and patient safety. I didn’t want Sandie to be put in a situation with another incident.”
‘I’ve got nothing to hide’
Ms Davidson told the tribunal that she informed Ms Peggie that she was temporarily suspended. She described the veteran nurse as “shaking” and “tense”, recalling she declined to leave by a side exit, saying “I’ve got nothing to hide”.
Ms Davidson said: “We only had heard Beth’s account of what had happened. There was to be a formal investigation. To be fair, in my 30 years, I have never had to be involved in a formal investigation or lead a formal investigation.”
The tribunal heard that Ms Davidson said a decision was later made to extend suspension to enable managers to find a way to avoid Ms Peggie and Dr Upton working together.
Naomi Cunningham, representing Ms Peggie, said her client’s discomfort with Dr Upton’s presence in a female changing room stemmed from sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a male GP when she was 17. Ms Cunningham suggested it was not “surprising” for Ms Peggie to feel upset by encountering a trans woman in a female changing room.
Ms Davidson said it was not “unreasonable to think that Sandie would be upset by that” and pointed out that other changing facilities were available.
The tribunal continues.
2025-02-13T18:30:06Z
