Overview

• On August 14, the Equality and Human Rights Commission formally ordered NHS Fife to implement corrective actions immediately after the board admitted failing to perform a legally required equality impact assessment under Scotland’s Public Sector Equality Duty.
• NHS Fife has now completed a comprehensive audit of its single-sex staff facilities and commissioned a retrospective equality impact assessment due by September 30 to ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
• The regulator’s directive invokes the April UK Supreme Court ruling that defines 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act as referring to biological sex, reinforcing public bodies’ obligations to assess policy impacts on protected groups.
• Nurse Sandie Peggie’s employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton dates back to December 2023 and resumes in September, with a final decision anticipated later in 2025.
• Campaigners and political figures, including Sex Matters’ Maya Forstater and Scottish Conservatives’ Tess White, described the EHRC’s move as an unprecedented enforcement step demanding accountability from public bodies.