Nurse denies 'vindictive campaign' against trans doctor

Sandie Peggie said some of her comments about Dr Beth Upton were made as "dark humour"

A nurse has denied waging a "vindictive campaign" against a trans doctor, a tribunal has heard.

Sandie Peggie said comments regarding Dr Beth Upton - including asking for pictures of "the weirdo" on a night out - were made as dark humour.

The nurse was suspended by NHS Fife in January 2024 following a row with Dr Upton about the doctor being allowed in a women's changing room at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

Ms Peggie was giving evidence for the second time at the tribunal, which she brought against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010.

Ms Peggie told the tribunal she harboured no bad feelings towards trans people in general, but did not believe "men should be in women's changing areas".

She admitted some remarks made about Dr Upton in a WhatsApp chat were derogatory and demeaning, but added they were only made between a small group of friends.

When asked if she been taking part in a "vindictive campaign" or a "hate campaign" against the doctor, Ms Peggie said this was not true.

The nurse, who worked for 30 years with NHS Fife, also said a number of racist jokes in a WhatsApp chat regarding flooding in Pakistan that killed nearly 2,000 people in 2022 was humour, intended to try and shock people.

When asked about requesting a picture of Dr Upton from a friend, where she used the term "weirdo", Ms Peggie said there had been chat throughout the department about "how weird" Dr Upton looked.

She said the doctor had looked like "a man in a dress" on a work night out and that she "used weirdo as it was the word that was circulating at the time" in the department.

However, she later said she did not regularly use weirdo as a description, but would use the word strange instead.

Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal

The nurse said more than a dozen people working for NHS Fife were in agreement with her regarding Dr Upton being allowed into women's changing rooms, more than she had initially named when giving evidence in February.

She said she had not mentioned these members of staff - who included a consultant and receptionists - due to the "very toxic" situation within NHS Fife.

She said: "Since this happened, and the way I was treated, I didn't want anyone else to be put in the same predicament."

Dr Upton and NHS Fife's lawyer, Jane Russell KC, quizzed Ms Peggie about a text message in January 2024 where she said "the only way I can get round this is to say we're not aware of protocols" and mentioned that "trans have all the rights".

Ms Peggie denied this was in regards to creating an argument against Dr Upton following the suspension being imposed.

She was also asked about looking up policies related to menstrual health in the workplace, having previously told the tribunal she had a "menstrual flood" that forced her to go to the changing rooms during her work shift on Christmas Eve 2023.

Ms Russell asked if this was an excuse to disguise a deliberate attempt to encounter Dr Upton, which Ms Peggie denied.

Sandie Peggie was greeted by former SNP MP Joanna Cherry before giving evidence

The tribunal also heard there had been discussion in Ms Peggie's workplace chat with colleagues about Dr Upton "causing problems" in the past regarding pronouns at previous jobs.

One person in the chat was alleged to have claimed colleagues were "walking on eggshells" when working alongside Dr Upton.

Ms Peggie was also asked about racial comments and jokes made in the past, which had been heavily discussed during the previous day's testimony.

She denied making a remark about wanting to post bacon through the letterbox of a nearby mosque, attributing the comment to a paramedic.

Two colleagues who gave evidence on Monday said that Ms Peggie made the remark during a lunch with friends.

However, Ms Peggie admitted she had a fear of the mosque being built in Kirkcaldy, due to her having concerns about Sharia Law being introduced in the UK.

She said did not dislike all Muslims, and that her beliefs did not mean she would ever treat patients differently.

She added that she had taken jokes about floods in Pakistan from a Facebook page and while they were "distasteful", it was to "sent in dark humour" to friends.

The nurse said she had used derogatory terms to describe people from Pakistan and China because these were common terms when she was growing up.

She said people of those ethnicities that she knew were not offended when the terms had been used.

Ms Peggie was greeted on arrival at the tribunal by Joanna Cherry, the former SNP MP for Edinburgh South West.

The tribunal has finished witness evidence and will next consider written submissions on Wednesday, with oral submissions to be heard at the start of September.