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The first morning of resumed testimony in Peggie v NHS Fife & Dr B Upton opened not with legal precision but with delay and disarray. Observers were left waiting outside the hearing room for over an hour past the scheduled start, as court staff grappled with new remote access arrangements. The tribunal finally got underway at - a fitting prelude to what followed: a portrait of institutional looseness, from the court’s admin to NHS Fife’s own handling of equality law.
Called by NHS Fife and cross-examined by their own barrister Jane Russell KC, Equality and Diversity Lead Isla Bumba conceded that the health board had no policy governing trans staff use of changing rooms when she advised that it “might be discriminatory” to restrict access based on gender identity. That advice, she said, stemmed from her understanding of the Equality Act and what she believed other NHS boards were doing. But when pressed, she could not say what those boards’ policies actually stated - or whether she had even read them at the time.
Russell walked her through several NHS policies from elsewhere - Brighton, Lanarkshire, Durham, Highland. Again and again, Bumba responded with equivocation: “I might have,” “it aligns,” “I can’t recall.” Her advice had real institutional weight, yet it rested on a hazy blend of hearsay and assumption, unsupported by any internal NHS Fife documentation.
When the incident between Nurse Peggie and Dr Upton was reported via a Datix flagged as a hate incident, Bumba agreed it was “unpleasant” and “suggestive of discrimination.” But she issued no written advice, undertook no assessment, and followed up with little more than a vague suggestion to “have a chat.” She couldn’t recall if she’d spoken to key staff or simply shared a draft policy link. Even that policy - the Once for Scotland trans guidance - had never been formally adopted, and was later withdrawn under the weight of this very tribunal.
Administratively and substantively, the morning’s evidence revealed a system in which equality advice operated without records, without policies, and without accountability. NHS Fife projected the image of a rights-conscious employer, but behind that façade was procedural drift and institutional neglect. As the delays in the courtroom mirrored the inertia inside the boardroom, one truth became clear: when belief rights clashed with workplace inclusion, NHS Fife had left its staff to improvise - and take the consequences alone.