That meant that Dr Beth Upton’s supervisor Dr Kate Searle was unable to conclude her evidence and will return on Wednesday morning for cross-examination by Sandie Peggie’s legal team.
But during today’s session, we learned significant detail about Dr Upton’s complaint against Ms Peggie, the provisions put in place ahead of the medic’s start at Victoria Hospital and accusations of a “deliberate” attempt to conceal emails that pertain to the case.
Here are the key points you may have missed.
Dr Upton rejected ‘gender neutral toilets’
The tribunal heard that Dr Upton was “very upfront” about her transgender status when she first became employed at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy in August 2023.
Her supervisor Dr Searle said she was told Dr Upton had been living as a transwoman for around a year and had used the female facilities in previous jobs.
But Dr Searle wanted Dr Upton to be comfortable in her role as a junior doctor and had a brief discussion.
“I asked if she was happy using the female changing rooms, she said yes,” Dr Searle told Jane Russell KC.
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She said she did not make any more suggestions as Dr Upton had been “comfortable” about using the facilities.
Evidence bundles seen by The Herald showed Dr Searle also made Dr Upton aware of gender neutral facilities the medic could use.
“At my initial meeting with her, I checked that she had everything that she needed and she felt comfortable changing in the female changing room,” Dr Searle said in her investigation interview with NHS Fife.
She added: “I identified that there are separate toilets within the changing rooms, also unisex toilets outwith the male and female changing rooms that she was welcome to use as well but she was comfortable using the female changing room.”
Isla Bryson comparison was ‘offensive’
Dr Searle was quizzed by Ms Russell KC on allegations that Sandie Peggie drew a comparison between Dr Upton and transgender prisoner Isla Bryson, who is a convicted rapist.
She told the tribunal that Dr Upton perceived this to be an “insult” towards the medic’s transgender status.
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Dr Searle said: “As a transgender female, to be compared to someone who has transitioned to female after being convicted of serious offences against women as a male is extremely, extremely offensive.”
This, she said, was a hate incident under NHS Fife policy and Dr Upton was considering reporting it to the police as a hate crime, the tribunal heard.
Dr Searle emailed her colleagues because of a ‘duty of care’
Prior to Dr Searle’s evidence, there had been discussions around an email sent by her to 19 of her consultant colleagues in the emergency department.
This email, where she outlined details of the incident between Dr Upton and Ms Peggie, has been described as inappropriate by other witnesses.
But in evidence today, Dr Searle said the reason she sent this was because consultants had a “duty of care” to junior doctors like Dr Upton.
She said that her festive shift patterns in 2023 meant that she would be off for a period of time and would not be able to verbally tell other consultants.
The email allowed consultants to understand why Dr Upton would be upset on shift or may be unable to work that day, she said.
Consultants ‘condemned’ Sandie Peggie’s actions
We had also heard how Dr Searle said in her email that Dr Upton had been told the consultants “condemned” the actions of Ms Peggie on Christmas Eve.
Asked why she felt this was appropriate, she said that all of her colleagues agreed with the codes of conduct and their obligations to the General Medical Council (GMC) to treat other colleagues with respect.
Therefore, she said, it was clear that no member of the consultancy team would have deemed the actions as acceptable.
“All of the consultants agreed with me,” she said.
Dr Searle denies she “deliberately defied” tribunal
In cross-examination, Naomi Cunningham points to an email thread on protected characteristics from February 12, 2024.
It is sent by Dr Searle but has ‘RE’ in the subject to imply it is responding to an earlier email.
However, Ms Cunningham points out that there does not appear to be an email attached to this and it was not included when the witnesses were asked to trawl their emails for evidence.
Ms Cunningham asks whether it is the case that it is “quite understandable” that those involved in the email chain might not have wanted it to be looked at during the tribunal.
She goes on to describe it as “embarrassing” for the medics because it signifies “intent” to set up a co-ordinated group of witnesses who are not supposed to be discussing the case.
Was there, therefore, a concerted effort to ignore the court order, Ms Cunningham asks: “I would suggest you deliberately defied the order,” she said.
Dr Searle said that “in hindsight” the email should not have been written and added: “I absolutely do not agree with that.”
She said she was a doctor who acted with “honesty” at all times.