{"id":16134,"date":"2025-07-22T18:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T18:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/16134\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T18:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T18:54:09","slug":"nhs-medics-accused-of-hiding-email-in-peggie-tribunal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/16134\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS medics accused of hiding email in Peggie tribunal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The accusation came as Dr Searle, a consultant in emergency medicine, gave evidence to the tribunal in Dundee<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n The senior medic supervised Dr Beth Upton and helped complete a report following the incident between the transgender doctor and Ms Peggie.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE\n<\/p>\n

\n The gender critical nurse is suing her employer after being suspended following the dispute on Christmas Eve 2023.\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Peggie experienced a sudden heavy period and was concerned she had bled through her scrubs. When she entered the changing room and saw Dr Upton, she said, in her view, the medic was a man and should not have been in the room.\n<\/p>\n

\n She also made a reference to the situation being similar to men being in the female prison estate. Much of the rest of the conversation is disputed.\n<\/p>\n

\n Dr Upton made a formal complaint shortly afterwards. Ms Peggie was placed on \u2018special leave\u2019 in late December 2023 and suspended in January 2024, pending an investigation into \u201calleged unwanted behaviours towards another member of NHS Fife staff\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n On Tuesday, Dr Searle, who said she had known Ms Peggie during her 11-year career at NHS Fife but was unaware of her gender critical views, explained her role in the inductions for junior doctors.\n<\/p>\n

\n She said she had asked Dr Upton \u201cif she was happy using female changing rooms\u201d in August 2023 during an induction and \u201cdidn\u2019t make any other suggestions\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n She said she emailed NHS Fife’s equality lead Isla Bumba on December 8, 2023, to ask if NHS Fife had a transgender policy but was told it did not.\n<\/p>\n

\n On her return to work after the Christmas break, on December 29, Dr Searle read an email from Dr Elspeth Pitt regarding an \u201cupsetting interaction with another member of staff\u201d, and an email from Dr Upton sent on Christmas Day, alleging Ms Peggie had told her \u201cshe can\u2019t be in the female changing room, it\u2019s wrong and lots of others feel this way\u201d and \u201cshe continued to tell me she is intimidated, she told me women have a right to feel safe\u201d, and made a comment about \u201cprisons\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n Dr Searle said: \u201cTo me, that was likening the situation to the Isla Bryson case that was very well pub<\/a>licised. Isla Bryson was a convicted rapist who was housed temporarily in a female prison.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n She said she was \u201cvery concerned\u201d and \u201cknew there wasn\u2019t an NHS Fife policy\u201d, adding that \u201caccording to the hate incident policy it is verbal harassment\u201d, the tribunal heard.\n<\/p>\n

\n She said she had a meeting with Dr Upton at 5pm, who was \u201cshaken and distressed\u201d, and they completed an internal report together.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"DrDr Kate Searle arrives for the Sandie Peggie Employment Tribunal (Image: Iain Masterton) Dr Searle said: \u201cWe looked at NHS Fife\u2019s hate incident policy and recognised this required a Datix to be completed, so we completed that together. We discussed reporting the incident to the police as that\u2019s again what is recommended in NHS Fife policy.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cBeth said she would think about it. We looked at her shift patterns to see when she was next due to be in and if she felt safe to do that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE\n<\/p>\n

\n During cross-examination, Dr Searle was asked about a number of\u00a0emails,\u00a0including one to six respondents\u00a0referring to a \u201csmall need to know group\u201d to help avoid \u201cfoot in mouth syndrome\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Cunningham said there was \u201csomething a bit odd going on here\u201d as there were separate chains with the same subject line, which looked as if they were connected. However, there were earlier messages in the chain which appeared to have been deleted.\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Cunningham said an email looked as if it had not been submitted to the tribunal when it should have been, and there was a further email that should have appeared at the bottom of a chain that was, \u201cfor some reason, chopped off\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cBut on the face of this email, it is quite understandable, isn\u2019t it, why those involved in that small need to know group might have preferred not to have it looked at in the course of this tribunal,\u201d the lawyer said.\n<\/p>\n

\n The email was, she added, \u201cseriously embarrassing\u201d to NHS Fife and Dr Upton.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt talks about a live investigation. It says in terms that Esther [Davidson, Ms Peggie\u2019s supervisor], who a few days earlier and then again until the end of February is going to be the investigator, it says in terms Esther cannot do it, as she has been involved in the discussions with Sandie previously.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt appears to be an intention to set up and coordinate a group of people who should not be talking about this investigation to each other because they are witnesses.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt says in terms this information must not be shared with anyone outside this group, and it talks about the risk of foot in mouth syndrome. It is in itself, quite a serious case of foot in mouth syndrome, isn\u2019t it?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Dr Searle said she could \u201cappreciate that in hindsight, we should not have written these things in a group email to witnesses. I agree.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAnd having done that, everybody involved in that chain had quite good reason to prefer that it shouldn\u2019t see the light of day,\u201d argued Ms Cunningham.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI cannot comment whether this email was withheld. I don\u2019t think you can prove that these two emails are linked,” Dr Searle responded. \u201cAnd when we were all asked by the IT department to do a thorough search of our emails, we did so, and this email was produced.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Cunningham said: \u201cBut you were asked to do some degree of search of emails on the previous trawls, and this email wasn\u2019t produced. Was it? You didn\u2019t produce it in time for the first part of this hearing, in response to the January 3 order.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt would appear not.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Cunningham said there were six people copied on the email. She asked if all those copied in had agreed between them that none of them would produce it.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d Dr Searle replied.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI would suggest to you that you deliberately defied an order of the tribunal to conceal your own wrongdoing and that of your colleagues.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI absolutely do not agree with that,\u201d Dr Searle said.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf you had done that, it would be dishonest. Wouldn\u2019t it?\u201d Ms Cunningham asked.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt would be dishonest to do that, and I am a doctor who acts as honestly as I can at all times.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n She agreed that it would be an issue for the regulator if she, as a doctor, had not acted with honesty and integrity.\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Cunningham later quoted from Dr Upton\u2019s evidence to the tribunal back in February, including that using female changing rooms was \u201ca thing I have been instructed to be the most appropriate\u201d, and describing biological sex as a \u201cnebulous dog whistle\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n Dr Searle agreed that biological sex was \u201csignificant\u201d, but she did not understand what was meant by the term \u201cnebulous dog whistle.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Ms Cunningham said: \u201cI think it must follow that anyone who describes biological sex as a \u2018nebulous dog whistle\u2019 would be talking obvious nonsense.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Dr Searle said: \u201cI\u2019m not sure what that means.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The tribunal continues.\n<\/p>\n

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