Nurse Sandie Peggie has urged NHS Scotland to follow NHS England in implementing the law on single-sex spaces.
New guidance from NHS England states that all of its healthcare settings must provide services on the basis of biological sex. This is to comply with the UK Supreme Court ruling that the definition of a woman is determined by biology not ideology under the Equality Act.
Last year, Peggie was found to have been harassed by her employer, NHS Fife, which suspended her for objecting to a biologically male doctor changing in the female changing rooms.
Privacy and dignity
Peggie said: “I welcome this common sense guidance from NHS England which makes clear that patients’ biological sex will determine which hospital wards they will be accommodated in.
“The safety, privacy and dignity of female patients shouldn’t depend on where they are hospitalised in Great Britain.”
She continued: “The rights of female hospital patients in Scotland must no longer be sacrificed because of gender ideology and NHS Scotland must now urgently commit to implementing similar guidance.”
‘Dragging its heels’
The co-director of women’s rights group For Women Scotland, Marion Calder, said NHS Scotland is “dragging its heels” over releasing similar guidance on single-sex spaces.
She accused NHS Scotland of still allowing biologically male patients on female psychiatric wards, and added: “We are aware of male nurses who identify as women providing intimate care.”
The Scottish Government has previously said: “We have already written to health boards to reinforce the importance of ensuring that the law is followed and the Supreme Court judgment implemented.”
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