NHS Fife tries to silence nurse - Sandie Peggie vs NHS Fife Health Board and Dr Beth Upton - thread #55

[nauticant]

Sandie Peggie, a nurse at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy (VH), has brought claims in the employment tribunal against her employer; Fife Health Board (the Board) and another employee, Dr B Upton. Ms Peggie’s claims are of sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination and victimisation. Dr Upton claims to be a transwoman, that is observed as male at birth but asserting a female gender identity.

The Employment Tribunal hearing started on Monday 3 February 2025 and was expected to last 2 weeks. However, after 2 weeks it was not complete and it adjourned part-heard. It resumed on 16 July and the last day of evidence was 29 July 2025. It resumed again over 1 to 2 September for closing submissions.

The hearing commenced with Sandie Peggie giving evidence. Dr Beth Upton gave evidence from Thursday 6 February to Wednesday 12 February 2025. Sandie Peggie returned to give more evidence on 29 July 2025.

Access to view the second part of the hearing remotely was obtainable by sending an email request to: [email protected]

The hearing was live tweeted by x.com/tribunaltweets and there's additional information here: tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/peggie-vs-fife-health-board-and-dr-005 and tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/peggie-vs-fife-health-board-and-dr-bd6. This also has threadreaderapp archives of live-tweeting of the sessions of the hearing for those who can't follow on Twitter, for example: archive.ph/WSSjg.

An alternative to Twitter is to use Nitter: nitter.net/tribunaltweets or nitter.poast.org/tribunaltweets

Links to previous threads #1 to #50 can be found in this thread: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379717-sandie-peggie-list-of-threads-covering-employment-tribunal-and-afterwards

Thread 51: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5402652-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-51 1 September 2025 to 2 September 2025
Thread 52: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5403218-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-52 2 September 2025 to 4 September 2025
Thread 53: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5404208-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-53 3 September to 1 October 2025
Thread 54: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5418690-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-54 from 28 September 2025

Trigger warning- the details in this article are distressing

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/deviant-devon-doctor-allowed-back-9656939.amp

I came across this on/through the Victor Chan thread discussion and some of it is really relevant to SP (and Darlington):

But staff "felt that the culture at the time inhibited any thought of them raising a concern about this."
Consultants were split about whether the doctor should return to work. Medical managers, who did not have the full context, prioritised the doctor's mental health and thought there might be a "witch hunt" against him.

it said the Trust had to improve its culture of speaking up and sexual safety. "Many people who took part in this review describe feeling unable to speak up, or if they did speak up, an experience of not being heard, their concerns not being valued, or being dismissed, not understood," it concluded.
It adds. "The people who experience this were those attempting to raise concerns with people who were perceived as more senior to them, higher up in the hierarchy, importantly, people felt that their voices were much less likely to be heard if they were female and this was not always dependent on position."

Two thoughts

literal niece who is trans - theory is proven

total lack of critical thinking would make me think twice about voting for her for anything as intelligence like sex matters

Also she might not want to have the Union representing Sandie - but you know the actual law?

Delighted Sandie and the Darlington Nurse plan to sue their Unions. Grifters. Take the money from women but deny them their rights.

Courier article “EXCLUSIVE: NHS Fife hires PR firm to prepare chiefs for Sandie Peggie tribunal outcome”

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/5387947/sandie-peggie-pr-firm-nhs-fife/

Interesting! I wonder if the advice will include suggestions about running Friday night press releases past lawyers first?

NHS Fife confirmed external advice had only been sought recently and said no taxpayer money was spent on PR firms while the tribunal hearings were being held.

There were no clues....

"Sex Matters, a campaign group supporting Ms Peggie’s case, has also drafted in external PR help to manage the fallout from the tribunal verdict."

Perhaps it is fairly routine?

Thanks. They are well known. It wasn’t a personal page

The next paragraph reads
"Communications firm Media House, run by former national newspaper editor Jack Irvine, will help manage interview requests with the Kirkcaldy hospital nurse in the aftermath of the final decision."

My bolding. Just managing requests for interviews, then.. Not "presentation skills training".

In that case I am surprised you were threatened with a ban over one edit. However, if you edited the page repeatedly that would be classed as edit warring, which can attract a ban.

Naomi has also become more active on X in recent weeks, since leaving SM, so maybe she can be more honest now she's speaking as herself.
As for the Courier article...I'm wondering if this means the outcome will be this week.

I believe the firm in question is called 'SQRL PR', and here they are prepping NHSF ...

[from the inimitable Green Wing😄]

That is shockingly disgusting. Useless, smug cow. Hope some GC members take Unison to the fucking cleaners along with all the other waste of space unions.

The comments are gold: "are they going to be coached how to say it wasnae me and I'm going for early retirement".

Big belly laugh reading that. Thank you.

surely the time for NHS Fife to engage a PR team was before the multi version statement?

They don't need a PR team, they just someone to unplug the internet and shut them all in a soundproof cupboard.

... and in the cupboard is a life-size hologram of Naomi Cunningham saying things like 'Do you agree with me that.. 'The nature of this is I ask the questions'
and the truly terrifying 'Good afternoon'.

And, ‘Let’s call him Pete.’

Who is she on there?

https://x.com/LoudBonnet

They probably had to begin at the beginning to script Board Members to help them divert media requests to a single point of contact. Which is sensible, just late in the day.

This reminds me of the notice that went out about how to attend public Board meetings, with a note that said that observers may not take part or ask questions during the meeting. It's all standard stuff, but Fife is only putting sensible measures in place at the eleventh hour.

Bit late to manage the risk of reputational damage, surely. That horse has been gone done bolted some time ago.

They owe it to everyone invested in keeping the Trust functioning over one of the most challenging times of year.

I have no sympathy at all for the individuals involved in causing the tribunal mess, but it really is a bad time of year to have upheaval, esp around A&E department. They need to avoid the distraction of individual Board members making a tit of themselves, and they need to manage tribunal info requests centrally, so that A&E, wards and services can focus on giving clear instructions on eg masking/visiting restrictions due to seasonal illness, waiting times, delays etc.

I'm really hoping every day to hear news, but the deeper we get into winter, the harder it will be to manage, so I hope for patients' sakes the Board are kept on a tight leash and not allowed to create more distraction than is inevitable.

Aye. The management of which was all Goody Friend Potter’s job from the start of the year, and indeed prior.

I agree with you, but I would be willing to lay money on most frontline clinicians hoping the exec team take an extended Christmas break & leave them to crack on.

Even though the incident that ultimately triggered the court case/s occurred on Christmas Eve, most clinical folk like it when they can just do their jobs according to their priorities without managers getting under their feet.