Two NHS nurses who claim they were abandoned by their union are due to give evidence in a landmark discrimination case against the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). Bethany Hutchison and Jennifer Melle have been called as witnesses by Sandie Peggie, who has taken the world's biggest nursing union to an employment tribunal.
Witnesses to support Peggie's case
The 52-year-old medic previously brought a case against NHS Fife after sharing a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital. A tribunal awarded her a partial victory against the health board, upholding claims of harassment against her employer, but dismissing allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation.
She has taken the RCN to court, claiming it abandoned her because of her beliefs. Mrs Peggie claims the RCN failed to adequately support her after she was placed on special leave by NHS Fife.
Background of the witnesses
Mrs Hutchison was one of seven nurses who said they failed to receive any union support in their fight against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, which allowed a biological male identifying as a woman called Rose Henderson to use female-only staff changing rooms. The women took the trust to a tribunal and won a near £200,000 payout and forced it to scrap its transitioning in the workplace policy.
Ms Melle was suspended on full pay by St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust for an alleged "data breach" after speaking about the abuse she suffered at the hands of a 6ft bearded paedophile patient who arrived from a men's prison for treatment for a urinary tract infection. She was subsequently reinstated after a public outcry.
Peggie's allegations and the RCN's response
Both nurses will take the stand in support of Mrs Peggie tomorrow. The RCN has been told that failure to stand with nurses wanting dignity and respect in their fight for safe single-sex spaces sets a dangerous precedent.
Last year, Mrs Hutchison wrote to RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Nicola Ranger, demanding she use her influence to ensure "nursing does not become a profession where suitability to work is determined by one's acquiescence to particular 'acceptable' beliefs'. She said: "Across the NHS, women are being told to 'broaden their mindset' and accept policies that erase biological reality."
Mrs Peggie's case alleges that the RCN refused her request for legal support in January 2025 during NHS Fife's handling of her disciplinary investigation, and that the union failed to adequately advocate for her when she sought guarantees that changing facilities would be single-sex. She is seeking a finding that the union discriminated against her because of her gender critical and sex realist beliefs.
Her supporters include Harry Potter author JK Rowling and the Christian Legal Centre. The tribunal in Dundee continues. The nurse is also appealing after she lost claims of discrimination and victimisation against NHS Fife when the first tribunal announced its findings in December. That hearing is due in the new year. The RCN denies the claims and told the Express it is an "anti-discrimination organisation".
