Two more members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have come forward following news that Sandie Peggie is suing the union for failing to support her in her case against Fife NHS.

Ms Peggie was suspended after she raised concerns about sharing a female changing room with a transgender colleague, Dr Beth Upton, and is claiming discrimination based on her gender-critical beliefs at a tribunal in Dundee.

Now, two other Scots nurses have provided a detailed account of what they call the “extremely hostile atmosphere” they experienced for raising concerns about women’s single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms and changing rooms.

This came to a head during two RCN online engagement sessions on the Supreme Court Judgment on Legal Definition of Sex in the Equality Act 2010. Between them, they have more than 60 years of practice experience in nursing.

One of them, Jenny Willmott, said she was subjected to a ferocious onslaught by other members when she sought to provide her views on the Supreme Court judgment. The other, a globally renowned specialist in clinical nursing and a Quality Improvement Chair, wishes to remain anonymous for the time being as she considers future options. She said she’d been “thrown out of the session” after she’d attempted to voice concerns about some of the responses she was hearing.

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Sandie Peggie's case against NHS Fife is more important than Supreme Court judgment

This is the verbatim account of what each of them told me over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

Jenny Willmott has been a practice nurse for more than 20 years. She said: “I received an email from the RCN inviting members to sign up for one of the six online sessions and two in-person sessions to discuss the Supreme Court verdict.

“These were described as a chance to re-shape the union’s professional guidance and positioning. They were framed as safe and inclusive spaces to share our thoughts. The opening statement in the email invitations included a lengthy message of support of all ‘LGBTQIA-plus members’.

“I’m one of the founders of Scottish Lesbians [a pressure group] and we had been invited to make an intervention in the Supreme Court proceedings. As such, I emailed the RCN, stating who I was and asking if there was anything I could do to help with these engagement sessions. I........

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