A Christian nurse who was investigated, suspended, disciplined and referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council after declining to use a convicted paedophile patient’s preferred pronouns has written to government ministers demanding urgent national guidance for the NHS.
Shadow Equalities Minister, Claire Coutinho, has also written to the NHS Trust at the centre of the controversy.
Jennifer Melle, a registered nurse at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, has written to Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, and Karin Smyth MP, Minister of State for Health, following a meeting in Parliament in February 2026 between Jennifer, her lawyers and the ministers.
At that meeting, both ministers made clear that no nurse should be compelled to use a patient’s preferred pronouns and that healthcare professionals should not be penalised for holding and expressing lawful beliefs. Jennifer says the ministers indicated that this principle should apply within the NHS.
The intervention comes after Jennifer achieved vindication in both battles arising from her cases, supported by the Christian Legal Centre.
The NHS Trust abandoned its disciplinary case against her earlier this year, allowing her to return to work, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council has now dropped both fitness-to-practise investigations, concluding there is “no case to answer.”
Jennifer Melle is a registered nurse who was investigated after declining to use the preferred pronouns of a biologically male convicted paedophile patient who identified as female. The incident occurred during a clinical discussion about discharge planning in May 2024.
The NHS Trust investigated Jennifer and referred her to the NMC following allegations that she had failed to treat a patient with dignity by referring to the patient in a way inconsistent with their gender identity.
Jennifer later faced a second investigation after speaking publicly about her treatment, with allegations that she had breached patient confidentiality. The Trust abandoned its disciplinary case in January 2026, and the NMC has since closed both investigations with no further action.
In its decision, the NMC reportedly concluded that Jennifer posed no current risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of the public, that there was no evidence to support the confidentiality allegation, and that the pronouns incident was isolated and driven by her protected religious belief rather than any desire to harass or bully.
Jennifer’s letter to Bridget Phillipson and Karin Smyth now calls for concrete action to ensure that NHS staff are not disciplined, suspended or referred to regulators merely for declining to use preferred pronouns; that freedom of religion and belief is respected; that NHS Trust policies are aligned with the government’s stated position; and that regulators are not used to pursue lengthy investigations against nurses who hold lawful beliefs about sex and gender.
In her letter sent this week, Jennifer tells ministers that the NMC found she posed no risk to the public, that there was no evidence of any confidentiality breach, and that the incident concerning pronouns arose from her protected Christian beliefs rather than any malicious intent.
Jennifer is now asking why, if ministers agree that nurses should not be forced to use preferred pronouns, she was ever investigated, suspended, disciplined and referred to her regulator in the first place.
She writes: “If ministers are correct that no nurse should be compelled to use preferred pronouns, why was I subjected to such extensive disciplinary and regulatory action in the first place? Why was I reported as a potential risk to the public? Why was I suspended from my role? Why did it take years of investigations before common sense prevailed?”
Furthermore, Jennifer says her case exposes a serious disconnect between what ministers say should happen and what NHS Trusts and regulators are enforcing in practice.
She points in particular to Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust’s Dignity and Respect at Work Policy, which she says was amended in September 2025 to state that “deliberately misgendering someone, including persistent use of incorrect pronouns or chosen name” may constitute harassment under a section on harassment of people from the LGBTQ+ community.
Jennifer says the practical effect of such policies is that NHS staff may face disciplinary action for refusing to use a patient’s preferred gender identity, even where doing so conflicts with their conscience, professional judgement or protected religious beliefs.
She is calling on ministers to issue clear national guidance making explicit that NHS staff must not be disciplined, suspended or referred to regulators merely for declining to use preferred pronouns; that freedom of religion and belief must be respected in NHS workplaces; and that NHS Trust policies must be brought into line with the government’s stated position.
Jennifer writes: “No healthcare professional should have to endure the ordeal that I experienced simply for seeking to act with professional integrity and in accordance with their conscience and beliefs.”
She adds that vindication after years of investigation is not enough, warning that many other professionals may be suffering in silence without support or public attention.
Jennifer Melle said: “I am grateful that both the Trust and the NMC have finally accepted that there was no case against me, but I should never have been put through this ordeal in the first place.
“I was doing my job in a pressured clinical situation. Biological sex was relevant to patient care and I was trying to communicate clearly and safely with another medical professional. I was not trying to humiliate anyone.
“At our meeting in Parliament, ministers told me that no nurse should be forced to use preferred pronouns or punished for refusing to say something they believe is untrue. But the policies being enforced in NHS Trusts and by regulators say something very different.
“That gap must now be closed. Nurses need clear national guidance so that no one else has to face suspension, disciplinary action, regulatory investigation or the threat of losing their career for acting according to their conscience and professional judgement.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said:
“Jennifer Melle has been completely vindicated, but she should never have been dragged through this demeaning and punishing process.
“This case reveals the dangerous reality of compelled speech in the NHS. A nurse who had suffered racist abuse and threats of violence was treated as the problem because she would not use language that conflicted with biological reality, her Christian faith and her professional judgement.
“Ministers told Jennifer that no nurse should be compelled to use incorrect pronouns, yet NHS Trust policies and regulatory processes continue to create exactly that threat. This is not a minor policy disagreement; it goes to the heart of freedom of conscience, patient safety, professional integrity and the rule of law.
“The government must now act. It is not enough for ministers privately to reassure nurses that they should not be punished. They must issue clear national guidance to every NHS Trust and regulator making plain that Christian nurses, and all healthcare professionals, cannot be coerced into speaking against their conscience or disciplined for recognising biological reality.
“Jennifer’s courage has exposed a system that has lost its way. The government must ensure that no other nurse is put through what she has endured.”