by Nick Wallis, Sunday Times
The campaigner for single-sex NHS changing rooms is suing the Royal College of Nursing, claiming she was turned away when she needed support
There is a certain steel about Sandie Peggie. “I do feel like a poster girl,” she said. “I’m kind of glad that I’m at the forefront of it.”
Three years ago Peggie, a senior nurse, objected to a transgender doctor, Beth Upton, using a female changing room at the A&E department in Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, where she worked. Upton was biologically male but identified as a woman.
After a confrontation between Peggie and Upton just before Christmas 2023, NHS Fife suspended Peggie for alleged “unwanted behaviour”, pending an investigation.
While waiting for the outcome of the disciplinary action, Peggie took NHS Fife and Upton to an employment tribunal, claiming she was the victim of workplace discrimination and harassment. The tribunal hearings, held mainly in February and July last year, made Peggie a household name. “Infamous,” she adds, with a smile.
In December last year, the tribunal panel ruled that NHS Fife had harassed Peggie via four procedural failings, but her main claims of discrimination and victimisation were dismissed. Peggie’s appeal will be heard next year. Now her attention is focused on a parallel legal claim she made against her union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The 52-year-old is claiming the RCN’s failure to properly back her legal challenge against NHS Fife was an act of discrimination.