She then took the health chiefs to tribunal, claiming that she had been treated unfairly because of her role representing staff.
However, Employment Judge MacLean found that the main incidents she relied on were not serious enough in law to count as a “detriment”, and that some earlier incidents she complained about were too old to be considered because they fell outside strict time limits.
The case centred on a series of disputes between Ms Macdonald and NHS managers.
In November 2023, Unison raised concerns about Succoth Ward, an inpatient mental health ward at Mid Argyll Community Hospital in Lochgilphead.
A meeting was held with managers, Unison representatives and staff to talk through those issues.
According to the tribunal judgment, that meeting “quickly became difficult and contentious” and Ms Macdonald “dominated”.
She challenged chiefs on how the ward was being run, staffing issues, and questioned management decisions and their understanding of the board’s complaints procedures.
The ruling states that the nurse “questioned the cover and clinical duties undertaken by managers and their qualification and competency to do so” and pointed out that “the buck lay with managers, as they were accountable for the clinical environment and for supporting new nurses”.
The bosses later said they felt personally attacked by the nurse.
“The managers had expected robust challenge but could not comprehend what they experienced as a personal attack on the management team,” the judgment reveals. “They felt undermined, devalued, and humiliated in front of staff.”
While they attempted to move forward, two “became anxious and worried about carrying out their roles”.
One “continued to ruminate on the events”, while another “resigned from his post in part because of what he regarded as the claimant’s threatening and intimidating manner during the meeting”.
The management team, on the advice of the Royal College of Nursing, then raised a collective grievance about Ms Macdonald.
However, NHS Highland’s HR team told the union that “because the complaint concerned the claimant’s behaviour in her capacity as a trade union representative, the grievance should instead be directed to Unison”.
The team also told Evan Beswick, then interim chief officer of Argyll and Bute HSCP.
He decided that the managers’ concerns would also likely fall under the board’s bullying and harassment policy.
Mr Beswick wrote to Unison with the collective grievance. While that was acknowledged, the union said it was not willing to discuss the matter with him.
The tribunal also heard of a long-running row between Ms Macdonald and Catriona Watt, a local area manager at Mid Argyll Hospital, over how grievances and redeployment cases were being handled.
In April 2024, Ms Macdonald emailed Ms Watt to raise an early-resolution grievance for a union member about on-call and overtime protection.
That led to a series of increasingly tense emails in which Ms Macdonald repeatedly challenged whether Ms Watt should be handling the case, accused her of failing to follow processes, and copied in the member, HR and senior managers while quoting policy back to her.
Ms Watt told the tribunal she felt personally attacked. She said Ms Macdonald’s emails were aggressive and disrespectful, and that the way concerns were raised left her anxious, losing sleep and feeling she was in a “no win” situation where “whatever she did was criticised”.
She also wrote formally to Unison in July 2024 complaining that Ms Macdonald’s communication compromised her dignity at work and her position as a manager.
General view of staff on a NHS hospital ward (Image: Jeff Moore/PA Wire)
The union’s Scottish secretary, Lilian Mercer, wrote to Ms Watt to say an investigation had been carried out but “that there appeared to be a lack of understanding” in the health board about the role of a trade union representative.
It claimed there was an “ongoing hostility” towards Ms Macdonald.
A key part of the case focused on events in November 2024, which were within the tribunal’s time limits.
Ms Macdonald claimed she had been excluded from involvement in a grievance process and that a letter sent by managers to Unison was critical of her performance.
However, the tribunal rejected both claims.
They found there was no evidence that NHS Highland sought to prevent her from participating in the grievance process, and said concerns raised by a senior manager were about maintaining effective working relationships rather than removing her from her role.
The judge accepted that Ms Macdonald was acting in her members’ interests “and represented them with commitment and passion” and felt “unconstrained in advancing their case and wished to demonstrate to them that she was doing so”.
However, they said the nurse “showed limited insight into how her approach and conduct were perceived by the managers present”.
The tribunal said there was distinction between protected trade union activity and the manner in which it is carried out.
The claim was dismissed in full.
NHS Highland and Unison were approached for comment.
In September 2018, The Herald broke news of a bullying scandal in NHS Highland after whistleblowing doctors went public to voice concerns over a “culture of fear and intimidation” said to emanate from the “very top of the organisation”.
In 2023, despite £2.8 million paid out in compensation as part of a “healing process”, Unison told us they had seen no discernible reduction in the number of bullying complaints its Highland reps are handling.