A Scottish nurse at the centre of a changing room dispute has called on her nursing union to intervene.
Sandie Peggie’s solicitor, Margaret Gribbon, has written to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Scotland to request its support.
“We believe it is important that all parties are treated with dignity and respect”
RCN Scotland spokesperson
She argued that, to date, the RCN had not attempted to resolve the matter with Ms Peggie’s employer, NHS Fife.
A&E nurse Ms Peggie was suspended from work in January 2024 after a doctor colleague, Dr Beth Upton, made a formal complaint of bullying against her.
It came after the nurse raised concerns about having to share a changing room with the medic, who is a transgender woman.
Ms Peggie has taken Dr Upton and NHS Fife to an employment tribunal, claiming that they have breached the Equality Act 2010, in relation to three incidents in the changing room and what happened afterwards.
The tribunal has adjourned until July.
In the letter sent to RCN Scotland, seen by Nursing Times, Ms Gribbon set out that that Ms Peggie had expected the union to “exercise its industrial muscle” to challenge the decision to suspend her.
However, she alleged that “the union has made no attempt to resolve this matter industrially with the board”.
Ms Gribbon highlighted that she had written to the RCN in 2024, to ask if it would raise the matter with NHS Fife, but she “received no reply”.
Last week, it was revealed that the RCN’s English branch had intervened in a similar case underway in the North East.
The college wrote to bosses at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, to tell them they must abide by workplace regulations around single-sex spaces.
It relates to lawsuit launched by a group of nurses at the trust who, like Ms Peggie, are challenging their organisation’s policy to allow a transgender woman into the female changing rooms.
The letter sent to County Durham and Darlington set out that the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require the provision of single-sex changing facilities for men and women.
The RCN argued in the letter that the regulations appeared to have been “overlooked” and called for the trust to comply.
Four of the Darlington nurses campaigning in London
A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington told Nursing Times that the trust was “engaged in open discussions” with the RCN following the letter.
They added: “This is a complex and sensitive matter involving not only our internal policies and procedures but also wider national guidance and legislation.
“At present, there are individual changing facilities available and we continue to review what provision is possible within the constraints of our hospital estate.”
Ms Peggie’s solicitor said her client was “surprised but nevertheless delighted” to learn that the RCN had intervened in England.
As such, she asked if the Scottish branch of the union had written to NHS Fife in the same terms that it did in England.
“If not, does the union intends to do so in future?” the letter asked.
While Ms Peggie is no longer suspended, Ms Gribbon said the nurse had been absent from work “suffering from work-related stress” since February 2025, when the tribunal commenced.
Alongside the legal action, the nurse has been the subject of a year-long disciplinary investigation and is set to face a disciplinary hearing to answer allegations of gross misconduct.
It comes as, last week, Ms Peggie called on NHS Fife to “immediately stop permitting any man who identifies as a woman” access to female-only single-sex spaces.
The call followed a landmark ruling by the UK Supreme Court last month that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex.
Interim guidance published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), in wake of the ruling, set out that it was compulsory for workplaces to provide sufficient single-sex toilets and changing facilities for their staff.
An RCN Scotland spokesperson said: “We do not comment on individual cases, we treat our members’ right to confidentiality with the utmost importance, and we believe it is important that all parties are treated with dignity and respect.
“On the issue of single-sex changing spaces, we are working through the existing NHS Scotland partnership structures so that all NHS employers are given appropriate guidance.”
