A nurse in Scotland who was suspended after raising concerns about women being forced to share the women’s changing room with a male doctor who identified as transgender has been cleared of gross misconduct. The internal investigation by her employer concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations made against her.
Sandie Peggie, an accident and emergency nurse at NHS Fife, was informed this week that accusations of misconduct, patient care failures and misgendering had not been upheld, Nursing Times reported.
Her lawyer, Margaret Gribbon, confirmed that the disciplinary process had ended with no finding of wrongdoing, following an 18-month-long inquiry by the health board.
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The case dates back to Christmas Eve 2022 at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, where Peggie found herself unexpectedly menstruating during a shift. She went to the women’s changing room to check her scrubs and unexpectedly encountered a male doctor already inside and undressing. The male doctor, who identified as trans, had changed his name to Dr. Beth Upton. The incident led Peggie to voice discomfort.
The encounter led to a formal complaint by the male doctor, who alleged bullying and misgendering. NHS Fife later recorded the exchange as a “hate incident” and suspended Peggie from her duties.
In May 2023, while still under investigation, Peggie filed an employment tribunal claim against NHS Fife and Dr. Upton, accusing them of belief discrimination, sexual harassment and victimization.
The tribunal first convened in February this year and resumed this week in Dundee after a five-month adjournment. The health board had cited Peggie’s alleged behavior toward Upton as part of its legal defense, even as its own disciplinary panel was preparing to dismiss those claims.
Campaign group Sex Matters released a statement confirming that Peggie had been cleared of all internal charges, including those relating to patient care.
NHS Fife also issued a public statement saying the conduct hearing had concluded, with the panel determining there was “insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct.”
NHS Fife has continued to contest Peggie’s employment tribunal claim. The proceedings this week included testimony from the trust’s equality and human rights officer, Isla Bumba, who acknowledged that she was asked to develop guidance for transgender-identified staff on the use of facilities when Upton was hired.
Bumba admitted that no formal policy existed at the time and that her guidance was based on a “general consensus” from other health boards, without clear legal backing.
During testimony, Bumba also stated she could not be certain of her own sex, saying, “No one knows what their chromosomes are,” a remark that drew attention during the hearing. This came after Upton reportedly told the court, “I’m biologically female,” despite not holding a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), as required under U.K. law to be legally recognized as a different sex.
In April, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the definition of “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological females, even in cases where a person holds a GRC. Upton does not possess a GRC, which means that legally, he is male.
The judgment confirmed that employers can lawfully maintain single-sex facilities and exclude individuals based on their sex where justified for reasons of privacy or safety.
The health board has since said that “work is underway across the entirety of the health board’s estate” to ensure compliance with the ruling. Peggie’s legal team argues that the trust’s current position contradicts its continued defense of the original complaint in court.
NHS Fife’s decision to continue the legal battle has drawn scrutiny, with critics noting that the case has cost the public health body more than £220,000 (nearly $300,000) to date. Despite having cleared Peggie internally, the board’s legal team remains committed to contesting the tribunal.
The trust has defended its conduct and maintained that it acted appropriately throughout the process.
Peggie, who has over 30 years of service as a nurse, expressed relief through her lawyer at the conclusion of the internal process. She remains employed at NHS Fife but has yet to return to her clinical role.
The Times (U.K.) columnist Alex Massie argued in a column this week that NHS Fife’s treatment of Peggie reflects a pattern of institutional incompetence and deference to ideological confusion within Scotland’s public sector. He criticized the health board for suspending the nurse despite the legal clarity that changing facilities must be segregated by sex. Massie called the case emblematic of widespread “magical thinking” and systemic failure, suggesting that NHS Fife and the Scottish government have adopted unlawful policies based on social pressure rather than legal principle.
In an opinion piece for The Telegraph, columnist Josephine Bartosch calls NHS Fife’s pursuit of disciplinary and legal action against Peggie an example of ideological overreach driven by gender identity activism. She writes that the case is about a woman asking for privacy in a moment of vulnerability, and she is punished for it by a public institution more concerned with ideological conformity than common sense.
The employment tribunal proceedings in Dundee are ongoing.
