Scotland’s Health Secretary faced calls to sack the head of a health board at the centre of a controversial employment tribunal case involving a nurse and a transgender doctor.
Tories challenged Neil Gray to dismiss Carol Potter, the chief executive of NHS Fife, after a tribunal upheld harassment claims brought by nurse Sandie Peggie.
Demanding the Health Secretary act, former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: “If the current chief executive does not do the right thing and resign immediately, will he do the right thing and sack her?”
Fellow Tory MSP Murdo Fraser, who represents Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “Carol Potter, as chief executive of NHS Fife, has lost the confidence of the people of Fife.”
As a result, he said the chief executive “does not deserve to continue in that role, and should not be allowed to retire next year on a healthy pension”.
The Conservative went on to urge Mr Gray to “sack her and remove her from a job she is not fit to do”.
The Health Secretary, however, told them that the tribunal process still has “a course to run”.
Answering an urgent question on the case in Holyrood, Mr Gray said that all parties involved in the tribunal had 14 days in which they could appeal.
Adding that four of the 47 claims brought had been upheld, he made clear he would be contacting NHS Fife “in order to get their response”.
But Mr Gray said: “Otherwise, I think it is important we take the time to reflect on the judgment, the complexity that is involved here and we will certainly be doing that in Government.”
While the tribunal had upheld four claims brought by Ms Peggie, allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation were dismissed.
The case came after the nurse had complained about having to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton, a transgender woman, at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on Christmas Eve 2023.
In what he said was an “incredibly complex case” with a “very lengthy judgment”, Mr Gray pledged that the Scottish Government would “take care and time to reflect upon it”.
But speaking about the case, Scottish Conservative equalities spokesperson Tess White said that “NHS Fife was found to have harassed a nurse of 30 years just for standing up for her rights to privacy and dignity”.
She went on to say that “too many female nurses are operating in a climate of fear” as she alleged that trans rights activists were seeking to “fuel a toxic and harmful culture” over self-identification.
Ms White said: “Activism has no place in hospitals where the number one priority should be safeguarding.”
Challenging the Health Secretary, she said: “What are you going to do to keep all women safe in hospitals, protect their sex-based rights and eradicate this climate of fear, harassment and bullying?”
Mr Gray, however, stressed the Scottish Government was “still working through” the tribunal ruling, adding that ministers would “consider carefully” its implications “not just for the health service but for wider public bodies as employers”.
He added: “There were four areas which were upheld by the tribunal which need to be taken seriously and I will be corresponding with NHS Fife to hear how they intend to respond to those.”
Ms Peggie said on Monday she was “beyond relieved and delighted that the tribunal has found that my employer, Fife Health Board, harassed me after I complained about having to share a female-only changing room with a male colleague”.
A spokesperson for NHS Fife said that the tribunal had “unanimously dismissed all of the claimant’s allegations against Dr Upton and all of the allegations against the board, apart from four specific aspects of the harassment complaint”.
The spokesperson added that the health board would “take time to work through the detail of the judgment alongside our legal team to understand fully what it means for the organisation”.
Responding to calls that Ms Potter should be sacked, the spokesperson said: “The NHS Fife Board has full confidence in the chief executive’s continued leadership and is following appropriate governance, legal and employment processes in response to the tribunal findings.
“Carol Potter has already confirmed her decision to take early retirement next year and her focus remains on ensuring that NHS Fife learns from the tribunal findings, continues to support all our staff and to deliver safe, high-quality care for the people of Fife.”
