After a quarter of a century serving the NHS, nurse Sandie Peggie was escorted from her workplace in January 2024. Offered a tissue and the chance to leave discreetly via a back door, she accepted the handkerchief but refused the covert exit. "I wanted to go out with my head held high," the 52-year-old recalls, determined not to appear as if she had committed a wrongdoing.
A Clash in the Changing Room Leads to Suspension
The incident that upended Sandie Peggie's life occurred on Christmas Eve 2023 in the Accident & Emergency department at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife. During a busy shift, she experienced a heavy menstrual bleed and rushed to the women's changing room. There, she found her colleague, junior doctor Beth Upton, a transgender woman whom Sandie refers to using male pronouns.
"I told him that I did not think a biological man should be in the women's changing room," Sandie states, explaining she had previously left the room twice without complaint but felt compelled to speak on this occasion. She insists the conversation was not a row, but a plea for understanding, referencing past negative experiences with men. Dr Upton disagreed, asserting an equal right to use the facility.
By Christmas Day, Dr Upton had lodged a formal complaint for "serious bullying." Sandie was summoned to what she believed would be an informal chat, only to be formally suspended, stripped of her badge, and barred from the hospital unless in a personal emergency. "My life was turned upside down," she says.
A Costly Tribunal and a Divided Nation
Sandie Peggie's subsequent employment tribunal against NHS Fife has become one of the most extraordinary in UK history, a lightning rod in the culture wars over sex and gender. She has garnered support from figures like JK Rowling and Cabinet Minister Kemi Badenoch, while receiving thousands of supportive messages.
In a partial victory, the tribunal upheld four of her claims of harassment by her employers. However, claims of discrimination and victimisation were dismissed. The ruling, a 312-page document, was later found to contain serious factual errors requiring amendment, though the conclusions stood. Legal experts estimate the final cost to the public purse could reach £1 million.
The case unfolded alongside a landmark Supreme Court ruling clarifying that "sex" in the Equality Act refers to biological sex, not gender identity. Despite this, the tribunal's complex findings have created what Sandie calls "an unholy mess." Her legal team is now pursuing an appeal.
The Personal Toll of a Public Battle
For 18 months, Sandie faced the threat of gross misconduct charges, which were eventually dropped in July 2025. The personal cost has been immense. She speaks of feeling "squashed, belittled and abandoned" by management, losing friends, and being treated as a pariah. Her father died in January 2025, just days before the tribunal began, but not before expressing pride in his daughter's stance.
During the proceedings, Sandie's private WhatsApp messages were scrutinised, revealing outdated jokes. She was also questioned about a past conversation regarding her daughter's sexuality, which her daughter Nicole publicly defended as being misrepresented.
Sandie also reveals a past traumatic experience of sexual abuse by a doctor, which she cites not as the direct cause of the changing room incident, but as part of the broader context for why single-sex spaces matter. "I'm not the only woman who simply does not want to undress in front of a man," she asserts.
Now technically still employed but not working, Sandie feels lost without the career that defined her. "Being a nurse is all I ever wanted to do," she says. Yet, asked if she would choose the back door exit again, her answer remains firm: "No. I'd still go out the front." Sandie Peggie has requested that any payment for this interview be donated to a Scottish charity supporting survivors of rape and sexual violence.
