Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has taken up the cause of nurses who have fallen foul of trans ideology in the NHS, writing to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) urging them not to take punitive action.
Of particular interest are the Darlington nurses and Christian nurse Jennifer Melle.
The Darlington nurses took issue with being required to undress in front a female-identifying male colleague. The nurses claim they were told by hospital authorities to be more inclusive and were subsequently offered inferior facilities to change in.
An employment tribunal ruled that the nurses were subjected to harassment and discrimination under unlawful policies. Furthermore, the tribunal said the nurses were correct to raise concerns about privacy, dignity, and safeguarding to their employer.
After going public with their story, the nurses were reported to the NMC.
Jennifer Melle was also reported to the NMC following an incident in which she declined to use female pronouns to refer to a transgender paedophile who had been brought in for treatment from a men's prison.
Melle was suspended but was later reinstated following a disciplinary hearing. She too was reported to the NMC for both the original incident and for going public with it.
NMC investigations into Melle remain ongoing and the NMC has not ruled out pursuing investigations into the Darlington nurses.
In her letter to the NMC, Badenoch said, “Your investigations into the four Darlington nurses should be dropped in light of their exoneration. The Tribunal found they were subjected to harassment and discrimination under unlawful policies and were right to speak out. It is therefore unclear what misconduct is now being alleged. The complaints (focused on what the nurses said rather than the care they provided) are weak and spurious and should not be used to silence frontline nurses."
Badenoch added, “The two cases against Jennifer Melle should also be dropped. No nurse should face regulatory action for accurately describing biological sex or for speaking under whistleblowing protections. Her Trust has already found no wrongdoing and reinstated her. The fact that she was subjected to racial abuse while carrying out her duties raises a serious question as to why the NMC chose to pursue an investigation against her, rather than step in earlier to support her and uphold her right to work safely and without harassment."
She also reminded the NMC of last year’s Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of sex refers to biological sex and that public services should be arranged accordingly.
