NHS Fife urged to settle case against Sandie Peggie as Swinney under fire over support for health board
Nurse cleared of gross misconduct following her suspension for objecting to sharing female facilities with trans woman
Scottish ministers have been accused of letting the situation surrounding a health board at the centre of a high profile employment tribunal get “completely out of hand,” amid calls for officials to settle the case.
It emerged yesterday NHS Fife has cleared Sandie Peggie of gross misconduct allegations amid her ongoing tribunal against the board. The nurse was suspended from her role last year after she objected to Dr Beth Upton, who is a trans woman, using female facilities at Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital.
After a five-month break in proceedings, the tribunal resumed on Wednesday, where it heard how NHS Fife’s equality lead sought guidance from other health boards before advising that Dr Upton could use the female changing room.
But the hearing was largely overshadowed by an announcement from Ms Peggie’s solicitor, Margaret Gribbon, that her client had been cleared of gross misconduct allegations following a separate health board disciplinary hearing.
The disciplinary hearing was held on 25 June and it considered allegations relating to patient care failures, one of "misgendering" Dr Upton, and one relating to her encounter with Dr Upton in the workplace.
In the wake of that decision, the Scottish Conservatives accused First Minister John Swinney and the SNP government of ignoring several warnings about the health board, while Scottish Labour said the health board must now settle the tribunal.
Mr Swinney insisted yesterday that he had “confidence” in the board of NHS Fife and said they had to “get on” with delivering health services.
He said the disciplinary process had “examined issues about the alleged conduct of Sandie Peggie” and had now ended, adding: “It is important that these processes are fair to all parties and that is what has been taken forward here and it has reached its conclusion.
“There is obviously an employment tribunal that has been brought by Sandie Peggie that is currently under way. It’s not appropriate for me to comment on the live proceedings that are under way in that process.”
‘Ministers have ignored countless warnings’
But Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton attacked Mr Swinney for backing NHS Fife.
She said: “It's frankly astonishing that John Swinney is still backing this discredited health board to the hilt.
“They've dragged a dedicated nurse through a traumatic disciplinary hearing and tried to cover up the hundreds of thousands they have already squandered on this tribunal.
“SNP ministers have ignored countless warnings that NHS Fife was failing to comply with their legal obligations.
“It raises a serious question, what exactly would this health board have to do to lose the first minister's confidence?”
She added: “Instead of defending the indefensible, John Swinney should finally stand on the side of women and girls.”
Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of Scottish Labour said: “Neil Gray and John Swinney have failed to set clear standards in Scotland’s NHS and have allowed the situation in NHS Fife to get completely out of hand.
“The SNP should get their act together and give clear guidance to public bodies, including health boards, on protecting this principle and upholding the Equality Act.
“It is now important that NHS Fife settles the tribunal case and brings this sorry saga to an end.”
The tribunal in Dundee resumed on Wednesday after previous hearings in February, and comes after the UK Supreme Court ruled in April that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”, a ruling which has been publicly welcomed by Ms Peggie.
In February the tribunal heard that after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment and cited concerns about “patient care”, Ms Peggie was suspended but was notified of safety allegations on March 28, 2024 in a letter.
Ms Peggie has lodged a claim against Fife health board and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment; harassment related to a protected belief; indirect discrimination and victimisation.
Isla Bumba, NHS Fife’s equality and human rights lead officer, told the tribunal on Wednesday she researched the policies of other health boards as there was no regional policy in place regarding trans employees in 2023.
Questioned by NHS Fife’s counsel Jane Russell KC, Ms Bumba said that in August 2023, her line manager Esther Davidson had sought advice on transgender policies.
Ms Bumba said: “Esther called me, I believe she had called me to ask for very generic and informal advice. I was told they had a transgender staff member who was due to join the workforce, she was seeking advice on how best to accommodate them particularly around changing rooms.”
She added: “I said it could be deemed discriminatory to not allow a trans person access to facilities that aligned with their gender, but I recommended that it might be worthwhile having a conversation with the person directly if they had been open about their trans status to see where they would be most comfortable.”
Ms Bumba said she looked at policies from NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Highland, and was regularly communicating with peers in her role as part of the NHS Scotland Equality Leads Network, and she was also working on a draft patient policy.
Ms Russell read from the NHS Highland policy which said: “Staff must be treated in accordance with self-declared gender regardless of whether under medical supervision or having gender recognition certificate.”
Ms Bumba said the policy “exactly” aligned with her understanding, and at the time, a national policy Once For Scotland from NHS Scotland was being worked on in draft form.
She said she believed the national policy had been “soft launched” before being withdrawn in February 2025 due to legal proceedings.
Ms Bumba said she was providing advice on trans issues “relatively frequently… at least once a month or every couple of weeks”, and she believed Dr Upton was not the only transgender employee at NHS Fife.
Ms Bumba said she was contacted by Dr Upton’s line manager, Dr Kate Searle, on December 8 2023, and referred to the draft national policy.
Ms Bumba went on annual leave between December 24 that year until January 3 2024, when she said she became aware of a conflict between a doctor and a nurse.
During cross-examination by Ms Peggie’s lawyer Naomi Cunningham, Ms Bumba told the hearing she was only aware of one incident where a transwoman had been proven to be a “risk”, citing convicted rapist Isla Bryson.
Ms Bumba said “by allowing trans people into women’s space, there is potentially people assigned male at birth in that space”, and she agreed men pose a greater threat to women.
However she added: “The risk you described does not equate for a transperson.”
Ms Cunningham said: “Are you saying although men in general present a greater threat to women than women do, are you saying that transwomen are different from other men in level of threat they present?”
Ms Bumba replied: “Absolutely. I have yet to see, other than one specific case, Isla Bryson, that they are a risk.”
The inquiry continues.
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