NHS Fife in legal bid to ban public watching trans doctor Beth Upton tribunal online

NHS Fife has made a legal bid to ban the public watching from virtually watching the rest of the employment tribunal centred around a dispute over a trans doctor.

The health board has asked the judge overseeing the case to remove public access to the online livestream and restrict access to journalists only when the tribunal restarts in July.

NHS Fife said the first stage of the tribunal was marred by “technical issues and interruptions” from the public watching online, which caused “significant delays”.

It has also asked for an online group called Tribunal Tweets to be banned from posting live social media updates on the case due to several “inaccuracies”.

The tribunal case has been brought forward by nurse Sandie Peggie, who was suspended by NHS Fife after objecting to sharing a changing room with a trans doctor.

Separately Ms Peggie is facing disciplinary action from NHS Fife for misconduct and for compromising patient safety by refusing to work effectively with Dr Beth Upton.

Human rights watchdog the Equalities and Human Rights Commission is considering enforcement action against NHS Fife over the tribunal.

NHS Fife and Dr Upton sought an order in September to hold the tribunal in private and grant anonymity to the doctor on health and safety grounds. This was rejected and the tribunal began in February with a livestream.

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The livestream worked in a similar way to a conference call, meaning anyone watching who failed to mute their computer’s microphone or camera could be seen and heard on a large screen inside the tribunal.

This led to several delays, including once when a woman could be seen and heard drying her hair during the proceedings. The judge limited access to accredited journalists only in the final days of the tribunal.

NHS Fife said: “The technical issues and interruptions caused significant delays, which impacted the tribunal’s progress. A request has therefore been made that this approach be maintained in July.

“If these requests are granted, accredited media and press outlets will still be permitted to report on matters and in-person public access to the hearing will remain available.”

The health board also asked the judge to revoke Tribunal Tweet’s permission to post live updates of the proceedings online, adding: “Our legal team at the central legal office carried out an analysis of the tweets and found a number of inaccuracies.

“Following this review, a request was therefore made to the tribunal to revoke Tribunal Tweets’ permission to live-tweet proceedings, on the grounds that reporting must be fair and accurate.”

READ MORE: Why Beth Upton and Sandie Peggie are victims of militant trans activists who harm own cause and help far-right

Tribunal Tweets has said it will contest this application as they “believe that we have respected the relevant order and hope to be allowed to continue to report”.

For Women Scotland, Sex Matters, Murray Blackburn Mackenzie and Tribunal Tweets have now written to Nick Goodwin, chief executive of HM Courts and Tribunals Service, arguing the livestream service should be improved instead of having the public banned.

Lisa Mackenzie, from Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, said: “This is an important case that has generated considerable public interest. Seeking to restrict access to the HM Courts and Tribunals Service livestream, when there are very few seats in the public gallery, is a deeply cynical move by NHS Fife and one that we hope will be resisted by the employment tribunal judge.

“It should be pressing for the technical issues to be resolved instead of seeking to put in place further barriers to open justice.”

Tess White, the Scottish Conservatives’ equalities spokeswoman, said: “This reeks of an attempt at secrecy and cover-up from NHS Fife. There is understandably huge public interest in this case, yet this health board is trying to find any excuse to keep it out of view from the public.”

Judge Kemp will rule on both of the health board’s applications at a private hearing on Tuesday.