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RCN failed to help me when I needed them, pronoun nurse tells Peggie tribunal

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Cite

Pooran, N. (2026, September 28). RCN failed to help me when I needed them, pronoun nurse tells Peggie tribunal. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/royal-college-of-nursing-fife-epsom-victoria-hospital-dundee-b1298691.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-28 · by Neil Pooran

Quick Summary

At a tribunal hearing on Monday, a gender-critical nurse named Ms Melle testified that she received inadequate support from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) during a dispute with her employer. After experiencing harassment from a patient and facing an investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Ms Melle claimed the RCN took too long to respond and did not understand her concerns adequately. The hearing also featured testimony from Bethany Hutchison, president of the Darlington Nursing Union, who criticized the RCN for failing its female members during similar conflicts involving transgender rights.
Written by AI on 2026-09-28, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

At an employment tribunal in Scotland, nurse Sandie Peggie testified that she faced discrimination from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) due to her gender-critical beliefs. In 2023, Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife after objecting to sharing a changing room with Dr. Beth Upton, a trans woman who identifies as female. The RCN did not provide adequate support when Peggie sought help during the dispute with her employer. Another witness, nurse Jennifer Melle, testified that after facing patient abuse for using biological pronouns, she received little help from the RCN and was later referred to the nursing regulator. Both nurses argue that the RCN's stance on gender ideology prevented them from receiving fair support. The tribunal heard evidence that the RCN has no official position on the debate between concepts of gender ideology versus biological sex but appears biased toward supporting trans rights, leading some members to feel abandoned.

Written for “Sandie Peggie Tribunal Hearing” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Sandie Peggie Tribunal Hearing
Politics · 5 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 16% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
Hedges 4 of 28 claims Outlet record 69/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 9 of 23 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 7 of 18 claims Outlet record 64/100
“While both articles refer to Sandie Peggie's tribunal case against RCN and mention a previous tribunal decision from December, they describe different aspects of the proceedings — one focuses on Ms Melle's testimony about RCN's failure to support Peggie, while the other discusses statements made by a union representative regarding the reason for Peggie's suspension.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 6 of 25 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different testimonies given during a tribunal case involving gender critical nurse Sandie Peggie against the RCN union.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 5 of 16 claims Outlet record 64/100
“While both articles discuss Sandie Peggie's ongoing employment tribunal case against the RCN, Article A focuses on evidence given by Norman Provan regarding legal support refusal, while Article B highlights testimony from Ms Melle about direct discrimination claims.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 7 of 19 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different days in the same employment tribunal case.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 5 of 16 claims Outlet record 64/100
“While both articles discuss Ms Peggie's employment tribunal case against the RCN, they describe different days of testimony with distinct focuses.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
16%
4 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8310 article(s) · 73 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 73 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Neil Pooran
31 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 “Jackdaw is 99.9% complete and, with approval now secured, gas from this field will be flowing into homes up and down the country within weeks.
🔮 “While judicial decision-making is a matter for the independent judiciary, we will consider the Strasbourg Court’s decision carefully together with the Scottish court authorities for any ongoing implications for court proceedings in Scotland.”
🔮 He added: “But there are, of course, civil remedies available to the Scottish National Party. “We will reserve our position on that until such time as the Crown process is concluded.”
🔮 Asked what role she would like to play on the show, she said: “I would be a traitor, absolutely 100%, it’s much more fun.”
🔮 But the next, somewhat futuristic step in the art of whisky making will enter the history books – with the water of life to be distilled in space for the first time.
🔮 Whisky will be distilled in space for the first time as part of an experiment which will also measure how the spirit ages in the harsh environment beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
🔮 Whisky will be distilled in space for the first time as part of an experiment which will also measure how the spirit ages in the harsh environment beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
🔮 This will determine the confiscation of funds which he embezzled from the SNP over a 12-year period while he was its chief executive.
2026-09-30 · assertive framing · Peter Murrell’s legal aid withdrawn by funding body
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Also by Neil Pooran
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 31 articles by Neil Pooran →

Topics

Fife NMC RCN the Darlington Nursing Union the Nursing and Midwifery Council

Subjects

RCN ORG · 10× Melle PERSON · 6× Peggie PERSON · 5× Upton PERSON · 3× Fraser PERSON · 2× David Hay KC PERSON · 1× Fife GPE · 1× NMC ORG · 1× Sandie Peggie PERSON · 1× the Nursing and Midwifery Council ORG · 1×

Narrative

Ms Cunningham put it to Mr Fraser that he had referred to Dr Upton as “she” in previous correspondence, suggesting this was a sign that “gender ideology has got its hooks so deeply into RCN”.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-28
🔮 Responding to questions from Ms Peggie’s barrister Naomi Cunningham, he said that at the time it was his understanding that transgender individuals could use the facilities with which they identify.
2026-09-28 · Evening Standard
RCN failed to help me when I needed them, pronoun nurse tells Peggie tribunal · assertive framing

Claims (25 extracted, 4 hedged)

On Monday, Ms Melle gave evidence in the employment tribunal case involving gender critical nurse Sandie Peggie. asserted
Melle → give → Peggie
The Fife nurse has brought the legal case against the RCN over what she claims was direct discrimination over her gender-critical beliefs, saying it had failed to adequately support her during a dispute with her employer. uncertain
it → bring → employer
The first employment tribunal awarded Ms Peggie a partial victory against the health board in December last year, upholding claims of harassment against her employer, but dismissing allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation. uncertain
tribunal → award → discrimination
Ms Melle appeared as a witness at Ms Peggie’s latest tribunal on Monday. asserted
Melle → appear → Monday
She said a patient had become “vile and abusive” towards her when she used a “biological pronoun”. asserted
she → say → pronoun
The nurse said she was later placed under investigation and contacted the RCN for support. asserted
she → say → support
She said it took a “couple of days or weeks” for the union to respond to her. asserted
union → say → her
When a union representative asked her to write a reflection on what had happened, she said it “felt like more punishment”. asserted
it → ask → punishment
Ms Melle said she was later referred to the nursing regulator, and she questioned “why they didn’t help me when I needed them the most, at this point”. asserted
I → say → point
Becoming emotional on the witness stand, Ms Melle said the regulatory investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) was the most “critical” time of her career. asserted
investigation → become → career
She said: “I was very shaken – having sleepless nights, having panic attacks.” asserted
I → say → attacks
David Hay KC cross-examined Ms Melle on behalf of the RCN. asserted
KC → cros → RCN
He said that RCN representatives had, in fact, been in touch with her to discuss the options around her case. asserted
representatives → say → case
When she maintained her position that the RCN had not supported her, Mr Hay said there was “no way for the RCN to know that you had the deep-seated concerns that you’re telling us”. asserted
you → maintain → us
He said the RCN “weren’t saying never” when she asked for legal assistance but simply wanted to see how her case progressed. asserted
case → say → assistance
Ms Melle said the union was “neglecting the urgency” of the case. asserted
union → say → case
Bethany Hutchison, president of the Darlington Nursing Union, also gave evidence on Monday. asserted
Hutchison → give → Monday
Nurses represented by the Darlington union received an apology from their NHS trust after a row involving a trans colleague using single-sex changing rooms. asserted
Nurses → represent → rooms
Ms Hutchison said she had been left feeling like a “naughty schoolgirl, like I was being told off for something” with a union official. asserted
I → say → official
She went on to claim that the RCN had “abandoned their members, particularly their female members”. uncertain
RCN → go → members
Later on Monday, the tribunal heard evidence from RCN representative Stuart Fraser, who was initially approached by Ms Peggie after the confrontation with Dr Upton at Victoria Hospital. asserted
who → hear → Hospital
Responding to questions from Ms Peggie’s barrister Naomi Cunningham, he said that at the time it was his understanding that transgender individuals could use the facilities with which they identify. uncertain
they → respond → which
Ms Cunningham put it to Mr Fraser that he had referred to Dr Upton as “she” in previous correspondence, suggesting this was a sign that “gender ideology has got its hooks so deeply into RCN”. asserted
ideology → put → RCN
Mr Fraser said he did not believe this was the case and said he would not have thought about the use of the pronoun. asserted
he → say → pronoun
He denied that he had handled Ms Peggie’s case on the basis that the nurse was the “aggressor” and Dr Upton was the “victim”. asserted
Upton → deny → basis
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