By Asher McShane@ashermcs – 5 Dec 2025
An NHS nurse who was suspended for calling a transgender paedophile “Mr” has been left in legal limbo as the Government delays publishing equalities guidance.
Jennifer Melle, 40, a nurse at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Surrey, was helping to treat an inmate from a high-security men’s prison when the patient complained she had misgendered them.
She said the patient racially abused her, calling her the n-word several times, while they were restrained in their hospital bed – after she refused to call them by their preferred pronouns, which she said goes against her Christian beliefs.
She was investigated and discipled by the hospital in October 2024 and suspended on full pay.
A referral was sent to the Nursing and Midwifery Council to assess her ability to practise in accordance with its code of conduct – which forbids nurses from expressing personal beliefs.
Ms Melle has since filed a legal claim against the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust for harassment, discrimination and human rights breaches.
She also criticised the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) after it failed to intervene in her case.
She told LBC: “A patient was admitted and he came from a male prison.
“He was being looked after by another nurse that night. I was the nurse in charge that night. The nurse came over for help…. Really very shaken and very distressed.
“I said we will come and help.
“When I spoke to the doctor, the patient overheard me calling him Mr and that’s how he became very outraged and began to call me the n-word.
“He appeared very, very aggressive. He began to shout the n-word multiple times.”
She said she told him “I can’t refer to you as a woman as it is against my faith.
“He launched at me and had to be restrained by the prison guards. He was in handcuffs, both hand and foot.
“For me it is against by belief and to go against the word of god for me to refer to a man as a woman. It’s also against my conscience.
She said her view was that “It’s a man, six foot tall in a male prison.”
She said she was shocked when she received a phone call later that night saying a complaint had been made that she had misgendered a patient.
She was called in to give a statement and she was immediately told she would be redeployed to a different department and would face disciplinary action.
She said she attended multiple meetings where she said she would stand by her beliefs, but said that she would simply refer to patients by their name.
She said the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) had ‘totally let her down.’
“I’m praying and hoping… they would adhere to the Supreme Court ruling… and let me back to work,” she added.
She remains in limbo while service providers wait for updated guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to be published.
NHS trusts, councils and businesses have continued to allow trans women to use female-only facilities despite the Supreme Court ruling in April.
It ruled that sex under the Equality Act is defined by biology – not gender identity – and that laws against sex-based discrimination should apply only to biological women.
A spokesman for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We expect all members of staff to follow professional standards such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s code of conduct – this includes maintaining confidentiality for any patients in their care at all times.
“There is no excuse for racially abusing our staff and we’re sorry that Miss Melle had this experience.
“As our internal proceedings are still ongoing, it wouldn’t be right for us to comment further.”
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 