Exclusive:Gender row nurse Sandie Peggie has just weeks before NHS Fife stops her pay
Sandie Peggie has been off work with stress since March 2025 and NHS Fife will stop her pay in January 2027
Sandie Peggie has just weeks left before NHS Fife stops her pay, tribunal documents reveal.
The nurse at the centre of an employment row has been on sick leave from work since March 2025 with her salary due to end on January 1.
A tribunal in Dundee heard how Ms Peggie had asked for the support of her union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), to push the health board to guarantee the provision of single-sex changing areas and toilets.
While representatives from the RCN wrote to her bosses to outline Ms Peggie’s position, they did not comply with her request to send the correspondence to all NHS Fife RCN members.
Ms Peggie told employment judge Mel Sangster that she felt “unsupported” by her union.
She is currently suing the RCN in a second employment tribunal for discrimination related to her gender critical and sex realist beliefs.
The RCN denies all allegations.
The row relates to an incident in the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, on Christmas Eve 2023 when there was a verbal altercation between Ms Peggie and transgender doctor Beth Upton.
The nurse previously took NHS Fife and Dr Upton to an employment tribunal alleging direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and victimisation.
Ms Peggie told the previous tribunal she felt uncomfortable sharing a female changing room with Dr Upton on three occasions between August and December 2023.
She was suspended before ultimately being cleared of gross misconduct but has not returned to work since December 30, 2023.
She initially took leave because her father died but has subsequently been off for ill health.
Documents show she has been on half pay since July 1, 2026, having been off with stress since March 2025.
Ms Peggie told the hearing she was informed at a meeting that her suspension would be lifted.
NHS Fife offered her a move from the A&E department where she worked to another department of the hospital.
She told the hearing: “I didn’t want to work anywhere else.
“I loved my job in A&E. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong.”
Ms Peggie said Stuart Fraser, a RCN representative, asked her if she would be willing to transfer to the minor injuries unit.
“I felt he was pushing me to move as well,” she said. “I felt I wasn’t being supported. I felt people were taking the doctor’s side rather than mine.”
READ MORE:NHS Fife nurse accused of 'judgement and hostility' that 'do not deserve' Equality Act defence
She also described a toxic culture in the Fife hospital, saying other nurses shared her view that biological males should not be in women’s spaces.
However, she added, no one else came forward to support her claims due to fear of reprisal.
She said: “I think possibly it was fear. They had seen the way I had been treated at the hospital by senior staff members.”
In December last year, following 20 days of evidence, the previous tribunal returned its judgment.
Four harassment claims were upheld, including on the grounds that NHS Fife failed to revoke Dr Upton’s permission to use the female changing room on an interim basis after Ms Peggie complained.
But all other claims failed, with the complaint against Dr Upton thrown out by the tribunal in its entirety.
The current tribunal, which also heard evidence on Wednesday from former Alba MP Neale Hanvey, is expected to last seven days.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.