The clarification from the health board follows questions over whether Ms Potter’s departure would trigger any additional payments, particularly given the timing, coming shortly before the expected judgment in the high-profile Sandie Peggie employment tribunal.
In a statement, NHS Fife said: “We can confirm that Carol Potter will not receive a pay-off or severance payment from NHS Fife following her decision to retire in summer next year. All NHS Scotland employees are subject to nationally agreed terms and conditions, with retirement arrangements governed by national workforce policies and the Scottish Public Pensions Agency.”
Addressing the NHS Fife board on Tuesday, Ms Potter stressed her decision was unrelated to the tribunal and instead the result of “a lot of careful consideration” with her family.
“This is my choice — I am aware of a lot of speculation surrounding it,” she told members.
She said she was required to give at least six months’ notice, and choosing to retire next summer felt preferable to leaving in winter.
Sandie Peggie in Holyrood
Ms Potter added she would remain “focused and strong” in post until she steps down, emphasising the need for organisational stability during the health board’s winter pressures.
She first joined the NHS as a graduate management trainee at the Victoria Hospital and has spent nearly 35 years in public service, including more than six years as NHS Fife chief executive.
She oversaw the organisation through the Covid-19 pandemic but has attracted criticism in recent months over its handling of the Peggie case.
The judgment in Ms Peggie’s discrimination claim against NHS Fife and transgender doctor Dr Beth Upton is expected in the coming weeks.
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Ms Peggie, an A&E nurse, is suing her employer and Dr Upton after she was suspended for objecting to the transgender medic’s use of the room at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on Christmas Eve 2023.
The words exchanged in the incident are disputed. In her evidence to the tribunal, Ms Peggie said she told Dr Upton that he was a man and should not be in the female changing room. She said she was “trying to give [Dr Upton] an example of how I and other women feel”.
According to Dr Upton’s testimony, Ms Peggie said: “This was the women’s changing room and she told me that it was inappropriate for me to be in there.”
Dr Upton told the tribunal the exchange left them feeling “really, really upset”.
Ms Peggie claims she faced discrimination and harassment as a result of having to share female changing facilities with a male colleague.
NHS Fife argues that while Ms Peggie is entitled to her belief that Dr Upton is male, the way in which she confronted her colleague was unreasonable in a workplace setting, and that it was therefore reasonable she was suspended and investigated.
Her legal team has also brought, and in some cases “sisted”, additional claims against the health board and the Royal College of Nursing, with a further seven-day hearing against the RCN scheduled for autumn 2026.
During the tribunal, it emerged that senior members of NHS Fife’s management had opposed lifting her suspension last year. One of the disciplinary statements issued during the process was formally signed off by Ms Potter.