Changing room trans row nurse told she could 'change in toilet'

SANDIE PEGGIE was told that she could change in the toilets if she wanted to avoid undressing in front of a biological man, it was claimed.

- By David Walker

The tribunal continued yesterday with senior charge nurse Joanne Curran taking to the witness stand.

She said Ms Peggie raised her concerns about sharing the female changing room at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton before confronting him on Christmas Eve 2023. That led to the nurse being suspended from work.

Ms Peggie is suing NHS Fife and Dr Upton for harassment, with the tribunal now in its third day after recommencing on Wednesday.

Ms Curran stated in her evidence that there was “nothing she could do” about Ms Peggie’s complaints that a man was using female facilities as it went with the guidance they received from equalities chief Isla Bumba.

The complainant’s KC Naomi Cunningham asked why they thought excluding Ms Peggie from the changing room was the right idea.

Ms Curran replied: “I didn’t expect Sandie to change in front of a man, she could have gone elsewhere. It’s her choice, we offered alternatives. If it had been that much of an issue, she should have escalated it further, it was just a conversation she had.”