Jennifer Melle wins settlement from NHS

[RoyalCorgi]

Haven't seen a thread about this anywhere else, but Jennifer Melle, the nurse who refused to refer to a convicted sex offender by his preferred pronouns, and was disciplined, has won a settlement from the NHS trust she works for.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vlxdnnpqo

Good for her.
I was physically battered during a tirade of swearing by a trans woman in the last trust I worked for and nothing was done about it.
All I had said was, I can't help you with this problem you need to be referred to a specialist which I can do for you and then I was attacked. I was perfectly polite and used this persons requested pronouns.
I decided if my trust wasn't prepared to keep staff safe I wasn't working there and got another job.

There's a bit of context missing from that BBC report, eh?

Well done to her. With the NHS apparently on its knees, whilst it's good they've setttled, it strikes me that their mistreating a staff member like this seems like a mighty waste of money.

I don’t think that report is accurate. IIRC she didn’t address him as Mr, she referred to him as Mr when she was speaking to a colleague and he overheard.

That 'but' in the hospital's statement is telling isn't it...

I'm glad they settled but it seems that they waited until the week before the tribunal was due to start to do so. They could have resolved this much earlier than they did

Maybe just maybe it's sinking in in the NHS, that you can't bully & treat your staff just especially your female staff, just because a member of the sacred caste complains

The trans person was racially abusive, but only AFTER being referred to as "Mr". That doesn't excuse it. But it was inflammatory behaviour from the nurse in my view. She could have simply said "the patient in cubicle 5" or "Susan Jones". She didn't have to say "Mr Jones".

I agree with the trust that neither racial abuse nor breaching patient confidentiality is ok.

It is often important in a medical setting to know a patient's sex. Because male and female bodies are different. It would therefore often be at best unprofessional and at worst dangerous to pretend that a person of one sex was of the other sex, as it could lead to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment.

The nurse referred to the patient as Mr on the phone when asking for advice on medical treatment where biological sex is relevant. The patient overheard that and racially abused the nurse

The Times article is much better

https://www.thetimes.com/article/91b2affa-5312-4d54-b213-1fa162b0c563?shareToken=dc263eb6b2293fdf09e81919920d84a1

Normal timing by an employer, as I understand it. (Happened to me, and that's what my lawyer said at the time.)

That doesn't excuse it and yet here you are doing just that with your yeah, but comment.

The sex of a person is of paramount importance in healthcare, serious damage can be done if a person is treated according to the protocols for the opposite sex to that which they are. Jennifer Melle corectly identified the sex of the patient to the doctor on the phone as she was required to do, the doctor could not see the patient so saying the patient in cubicle 5 or Susan Jones would have been utterly meaningless as neither would indicate the sex of the patient which was a crucial factor in treatment.

Doing what you suggest would result in the wrong treatment and/or diagnosis and the resultant issues flowing from that some of which could be life threatening - you okay with that as long as the person claiming to be the opposite sex to that which they are does not hear that they are not?

That BBC report is absolutely disgraceful!

It doesn't mention that he was being transferred from a men's prison, that he's a paedophile or that he tried to attack her, and only alludes to his racism towards her

Once again, the BBC is only telling half the story. Not good enough.

The fact that she could have referred to him differently doesn’t mean it was inflammatory or wrong for her to have done so. She was inserting a catheter into his dick, it’s perfectly understandable she used the term Mr

Anyway good outcome for Jennifer, there’s no way the NHS would have settled unless they knew they’d lose. We’ve seen how the NHS seem to have limitless dings to spend defending these cases.

Yeah, nah.

The sex of a person may indeed be of paramount importance in certain medical situations. There are ways and ways of saying that in situations where it is important. One could say "the patient in cubicle 5 who is a trans woman, born male" or "Susan Jones, who is transgender". You don't have to say "Mr Jones".
She could even have said "Susan Jones, who was previously male". None of those are disrespectful.

Having read the times article above it's clear that she wasn't asking about what specific treatment was needed for a male bodied person. She was reporting that the patient wanted to leave. She could have said "Susan Jones in cubicle 5 is asking to self-discharge".

Especially when inserting a catheter as they are different shapes and sizes. using a female catheter on a male would likely cause injury and not reach the bladder

As always there is absolutely nothing that a man (TW) does that someone won't come in here and go "yeh buuuuut" and try to justify it

She should just have referred to the patient as the racist convicted paedophile

You absolutely are excusing Ms Melle being repeatedly called the n-word and physically threatened by a sex offending man who said he's a woman.

He overheard her discussing his treatment and calling him "Mr" (which is not only polite, but accurate given that all of his prison records said that he was male and his treatment involved his genitals, plus he was 6+ plus, hulking and bearded) for a urological issue with a senior doctor and then launched into his disgusting racial tirade.

She didn't breach patient confidentiality either.

The sex offending man who said he's a woman was also referred to as "Mr" by a white doctor and he didn't complain one bit.

No offense, but you need to get your facts straight before you start blaming an innocent black woman for simply doing her job.

Correct! I also noticed that - and it was connected to the de-catherisation of a patient. So sex specific language (on the phone) was very much required and relevant!!

thank goodness for common sense

We'd have much more clarity of information if it had gone to Tribunal when the facts would have come out in the judgement.

St Helier is my local hospital trust. It is notable that in their outpatient clinics men are afforded the courtesy of their titles, women are not. Mr John Smith/Jane Smith. It is not acceptable but sexism runs through the Trust like the name of a seaside twon through a stick of rock. They are pretty grim regarding ageism and disability as well.

your username is truly misplaced based on your blunt and misinformed posts 🤣