Nurse Jennifer Melle to meet Bridget Phillipson in Parliament over paedophile ‘misgendering’ NHS case
10 February 2026 Issued by: Christian ConcernPhoto opportunity and petition delivery details
- 10:00am, 11 February 2026 – Photo opportunity: Petition delivery at the Department of Health, Victoria Street. Darlington nurses Karen Danson and Annice Grundy, along with Fife nurse Sandie Peggie, will also be in attendance in support of Jennifer.
- 10:30am – Photo opportunity: on College Green, outside the Houses of Parliament ahead meeting
- The petition will then be delivered inside Parliament at Melle’s meeting at 11.15am with Bridget Phillipson.
Contact: For interviews or more information, please contact: tom.allen@christianconcern.com / 07974304620
Tomorrow morning (Feb 11), Christian nurse Jennifer Melle is set to meet the Minister for Women and Equalities, the Rt. Hon. Bridget Phillipson, in Parliament.
The meeting has come after intense media and political pressure, which included a cross‑party petition calling for Jennifer not to be sacked for an alleged ‘data breach’.
The allegation arose after she spoke to the media about being investigated and reported as a risk to the public following racial abuse and assault for not using a paedophile patient’s preferred gender identity.
As well as pressure on St Helier and Epsom University Hospitals NHS Trust, Phillipson was urged to meet Jennifer to discuss her case on the floor of the House of Commons by the Shadow Equalities Minister, Rt. Hon Claire Coutinho.
On the 20 January, the Trust dramatically dropped the data breach case against Jennifer and said she could return to work.
The Trust had previously issued Melle a written warning and later suspended her for nine months while investigating allegations that she had disclosed details of the paedophile incident publicly. The Trust ultimately concluded that there was no evidence Jennifer had done anything wrong and it would take no further action.
Despite the internal case being closed, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Melle will continue pursuing justice through her full employment tribunal hearing in April, where she is bringing claims including harassment, discrimination, victimisation, and breaches of freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Melle, 41, who has worked on the NHS frontline for 12 years with a previously unblemished record, still also faces two outstanding Nursing and Midwifery Council fitness-to-practise investigations over ‘misgendering’ the paedophile and whistleblowing to the media.
The meeting
Jennifer is now expected to raise concerns with the government about pronoun‑related policies in the NHS and to request action to ensure nurses are not put in similar situations in the future.
Jennifer will also ask for communication and guidance to be issued to NHS Trusts regarding the treatment of nurses involved in cases comparable to hers, including the Darlington nurses and Sandie Peggie.
The meeting also takes place amid ongoing scrutiny of delays in approving the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) updated guidance on single-sex spaces, which both the Commission and several public commentators have urged the Government to progress after it was submitted months earlier.
Melle is expected to present a policy document, developed by the Darlington Nursing Union in collaboration with expert lawyers at the Christian Legal Centre, setting out proposed solutions to NHS changing room policy issues and pronoun‑related workplace guidance.
Petition delivery
Ahead of the meeting, at 10.00am Jennifer will also deliver a petition signed by over 60,000 people to Wes Streeting at the Department for Health calling for the government to urgently publish the EHRC guidance on single-sex spaces.
The petition comes in the wake of the Darlington nurses’ landmark tribunal victory, in which the employment tribunal ruled that their NHS Trust had unlawfully discriminated against them by requiring them to share female‑only changing rooms with a biological male colleague identifying as a woman.
Urgent action needed
Ahead of the meeting, Jennifer said: “The government, and all the political parties, should be very concerned and alarmed by my case.
“I, and nurses across the country, need urgent action from the government so that no nurse has to go through what I have.
“I really hope Ms Phillipson will listen to me, understand what I have been through, and will take decisive action to protect NHS frontline workers.
“No more nurses should ever have to endure what the Darlington nurses went through, what Sandie Peggie went through, or what I have gone through. None of us should be punished for speaking the truth, for standing by our professional judgement, or for living according to our deeply held beliefs.
“I remain determined that the lessons of my case, and the cases before mine, must be learned. The NHS must protect its staff, uphold fairness, and ensure that no nurse is ever again placed in an impossible position for simply doing their job with integrity.”
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive, Christian Legal Centre, which has supported Jennifer since the beginning of her ordeal, said:
“Jennifer’s experience exposes what happens when we legislate to protect something that is not true. A man cannot become a woman, and a woman cannot become a man even if we legislate to say so.
“It creates a legal fiction and good people like Jennifer who call it out end up being the ones who are punished.
“Good law will always uphold reality. Unless that occurs, we end up in chaos and injustice as evidenced in Jennifer’s case.
“It’s time to draw a line and issue policy in line with truth. There should be no more cases like Jennifer’s.”
What happened to Jennifer?
Jennifer has worked at St Helier Hospital for 12 years with an unblemished record.
While on duty, she cared for a prisoner patient, “Mr X”, a biological male and convicted paedophile. During a clinical discussion with a colleague, she used biologically accurate language which the patient overheard. The patient responded with racial abuse and a physical threat, requiring security intervention.
Despite being the victim, Melle received a first written warning in October 2024, which was reduced to first on appeal, but was reported to the NMC as “a potential risk”. Staff were later instructed not to speak publicly about the case or engage with her.
Days later, Melle was removed from duty, summoned to an “informal” meeting, and informed the next morning that she was being investigated for a “potential data breach”, without being told what information she was alleged to have disclosed. She was suspended, escorted from the premises, and barred from returning. During her suspension, the Trust strengthened its policy to classify “misgendering” as an explicit breach.
Jennifer believes the data‑breach allegation was used as a pretext for punishing her for whistleblowing and that the process did not adequately consider whistle-blower protections.
She has also described her sense of abandonment by the Royal College of Nursing, which advised her only to “do a reflection” and declined to intervene.
She describes the suspension period as “the darkest of my life,” marked by fear, anxiety and uncertainty as a single mother.
Her case is expected to be a significant test of how NHS Trusts reconcile gender‑identity policies with legal requirements relating to biological sex and Christian beliefs.
