The chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission wrote to NHS Fife last month to remind the trust that changing rooms should include separate facilities for men and women.
The employment tribunal brought by nurse Sandie Peggie – which centres on her being suspended for complaining she had to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton, a trans woman – has now been adjourned to July.
Late in February, it was revealed that EHRC chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner wrote to the trust to reiterate its duty to “have an accurate understanding of the operation of the Equality Act as it relates to the provision of single-sex services and spaces”.
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Falkner told the trust that there are obligations under the 1992 Workplace Regulations (Health, Safety and Welfare) Act for changing facilities to “include separate facilities for, or separate use of facilities by, men and women where necessary for reasons of propriety”.
The EHRC also told NHS Fife that assessments of any new policies and practices that affect equalities legislation must be published, after it was unable to find this information on the trust’s website.
Baroness Falkner has also asked to meet with Scottish health secretary Neil Gray to discuss the forthcoming NHS Scotland Guide to Transitioning policy. The new policy would suggest it is unlawful to prevent a transgender person from using the toilets or changing rooms of their chosen gender.
It has also now been revealed that 20 hospital workers disagreed with NHS Fife’s decision to allow Dr Upton to use the women’s changing rooms, but were too scared to say anything.
A letter sent by Peggie’s lawyer to the Scottish equality and human rights committee says: “My client was not the only staff member who disagreed with the decision. Twenty of her colleagues told her that they disagreed with it (17 women and 3 men).”
“My client contends that the culture created by Fife health board around gender identity means that colleagues are too scared to formally complain and fear adverse repercussions if they do.”
Peggie is currently facing a conduct hearing at NHS Fife to look into whether she compromised patient safety by refusing to work with Dr Upton, and that she misgendered her colleague.
EHRC’s guidance on single-sex spaces, published in 2022, stated that trans people could legitimately be excluded from single-sex services for “justifiable and proportionate” reasons, which could include privacy, decency, to prevent trauma or to ensure health and safety.
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