She told the tribunal last week about a ‘Benidorm group’ chat she was involved in with Ms Peggie and five other nurses.
It was in this group chat that Ms Peggie shared a stream of racist jokes about the 2022 floods in Pakistan.
However, it also emerged that Ms Nicoll had mentioned a patient’s name and sensitive information in the nursing group chat.
It also outlined specific details of the same patient’s complaint.
Naomi Cunningham, the barrister acting on behalf of NHS Fife, put it to the witness that she would have breached her “regulatory obligations”.
The barrister said: “If we look at that single message from that 2,600 odd page group chat, would it be able to form a view of you as a nurse with no respect for patient privacy?”
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Ms Nicoll told the tribunal she was “disappointed” in her actions, adding: “That was unprofessional of me.”
“Certainly, if I was a patient I would certainly view me as someone who didn’t respect their patients,” she said.
NHS Fife’s policy states: “All staff working within NHS Fife are bound by a legal duty of confidence to protect and keep up to date personal information that they may come into contact with during the course of their work.
“This is both a legal and contractual responsibility and also a requirement under the common law duty of confidence.”
The health board also has a registered Data Protection Officer tasked with monitoring the organisation’s compliance.
Meanwhile, the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s code of practice requires practitioners to respect a patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality.
It states that medical staff must “share necessary information with other health and care professionals and agencies only when the interests of patient safety and public protection override the need for confidentiality.”
NHS Fife told The Herald on Sunday it would not comment on whether an investigation was underway.
A spokesperson said: “NHS Fife is unable to comment on individuals or evidence while legal proceedings are ongoing.
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“Similarly, we cannot comment on matters related to individual members of our workforce.
“We remain respectful of the legal progress and the role of the tribunal in considering all evidence presented.”
However, calls are mounting on the health board to investigate whether patient confidentiality was breached.
Tess White, equalities spokeswoman for the Scottish Tories, said: “NHS Fife has already shown themselves to be selective, inconsistent and biased in their approach to confidentiality.
“They were quite happy to ignore the rules in their bid to demonise Sandie Peggie.
“They have shown themselves unfit for their jobs by their stubborn refusal to accept the clear ruling of the Supreme Court and their appalling mishandling of this case.
“They must now stop flouting the law, putting women and girls in danger and laying themselves open to legal challenge, and there should be a thorough investigation of any breach of patient confidentiality.”
NHS Fife has been taken to tribunal, alongside Dr Upton, by Ms Peggie after she was suspending for objecting to the transgender medic’s use of the female changing rooms on Christmas Eve 2023 at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
Ms Peggie also made reference to the situation being similar to men being housed in the female prison estate.
The nurse was placed on special leave in December 2023 and suspended in January 2024.
She was cleared of all misconduct allegations on July 15 2025, including two patient safety concerns.
NHS Fife said there was “insufficient evidence” to support the allegations.
Ms Peggie had to be recalled to the tribunal to defend her character after former friend Ms Nicoll accused the nurse of racism, homophobia and transphobia.
It was alleged that Ms Peggie referred to Dr Upton as “it”, “weirdo”, and “freak”.
She was also accused of making derogatory remarks, including sharing 10 racist jokes about Pakistan in the friend group chat.
Ms Peggie joked about there being “too many P***’s in Britain” while another described the aftermath of the disaster, which killed more than 1,700 people, as a “giant bowl of Coco Pops” from space.
The nurse described the jokes as “dark humour” and stated she did not wish harm on trans people – but only wanted to share a changing room with biological men.
NHS Fife is also facing scrutiny for its handling of the tribunal and preceding internal investigation.
Carol Mochan, Labour’s deputy spokesperson on women’s health and public health, has urged the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee to investigate how the case has been handling.
She said she believed the board has allowed the situation to “get out of control”.