Nurse fears losing job after speaking out in patient pronoun row

A nurse warned over using a patient’s incorrect pronouns has told of her fears that she could lose her job after speaking publicly about the disciplinary action taken against her.

Jennifer Melle, 40, from Croydon, south London, is accused of breaking patient confidentiality and will face a private disciplinary meeting with Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust on Tuesday.

Ms Melle said she was racially abused by a transgender patient at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, south London, in May 2024 after she referred to them as “Mr”.

The nurse received a written warning from the trust and continued in her role.

The trust said it also wrote to the patient to warn them that threatening and racist language is not tolerated.

After Ms Melle spoke to the media about her experience last March, she was suspended with full pay over concerns the patient could have been identified from media reports – breaching patient confidentiality.

If the disciplinary hearing finds evidence of misconduct, Ms Melle could face dismissal.

It is unclear whether there will be a ruling on Tuesday or at a later date.

Speaking outside Parliament on Monday, Ms Melle said: “I wouldn’t actually believe that I’m standing here today facing this trial, having gone through this already after the Supreme Court ruling… regarding what is a man and what is a woman. I’m sure they should have put the policies and guidelines already to support this.

“It’s quite disturbing that the Health Secretary Wes Streeting is putting a blind eye to this. He is the person that has to stand up and make sure that these policies are there to support both the nurses, male and female, to have their own spaces.

“I have mixed emotions (about) what is going to happen tomorrow, and it’s quite daunting to see that I could lose my career, I could be dismissed.”

Ms Melle, who has been a nurse for 13 years, said she loves her job and feels “let down” over the way she has been treated.

She added: “They need to bring out these policies and guidelines that we need to safeguard us, the staff, because it’s really traumatising for nurses.”

She was supported on Monday by Darlington nurses Bethany Hutchison and Lisa Lockey, along with Fife nurse Sandie Peggie.

Ms Melle said they had given her a “glimpse of hope” that she might succeed when she faces the trust in an employment tribunal in April over claims she suffered harassment, discrimination, victimisation and breaches of freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

The Darlington nurses last week said they felt “massive vindication” when a tribunal concluded they had suffered harassment which violated their dignity and created “a hostile, intimidating, humiliating and degrading environment for them”.

The group, who had complained about sharing single-sex changing rooms with a trans colleague, hailed the ruling in their favour as “a victory for common sense and for every woman who simply wants to feel safe at work”.

Ms Peggie secured a partial victory in December in her claim against her employer, NHS Fife, after she complained about being forced to share changing facilities with a transgender doctor at a hospital.

She is appealing against the ruling in her tribunal case, which upheld her claim of harassment but dismissed allegations she had made of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation.

Among Ms Melle’s other supporters is shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho who has encouraged people to sign a petition urging the hospital trust not to sack the nurse, adding Ms Melle has done “nothing wrong”.

Ms Coutinho is one of eight cross-party MPs to sign an open letter to the chief executive and chairman of Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, raising “serious concerns” about the disciplinary process against Ms Melle.

The letter said: “When Jennifer was being punished for recognising that biological sex is real – a position defended by biological reality and the law – it is entirely justified for her to speak out to protect her career, income and reputation.

“Hardworking, dedicated nurses like Jennifer represent the best of the NHS. They must not be punished for expressing or defending their legally protected belief in the reality of biological sex.

“We urge you to intervene without delay to ensure that no disciplinary action is taken against Jennifer Melle.”

A spokesperson for Epsom and St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Racial abuse of our staff is never acceptable, nor is discussing a patient’s private medical information publicly.

“We are sorry that Miss Melle had this experience and we issued a written warning to this patient, but we expect all staff to maintain patient confidentiality at all times.”