The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has dropped disciplinary cases against a Christian nurse who was accused of posing a risk to the public after declining to use a patient’s preferred gender pronouns.
Jennifer Melle, a registered nurse at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, was involved in an incident during her night shift in May 2024, involving a convicted paedophile who was born male and identified as female.
The issue arose during a clinical discussion between Melle and a doctor about the patient’s discharge, when the patient objected to her use of male pronouns during a catheterisation procedure involving a male catheter.
Melle suggested addressing the patient by name, but he became very angry and allegedly threatened her with violence and subjected her to racial abuse.
Following the incident, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust launched an investigation, suspended Melle and referred her to the NMC.
Another case was launched after Melle spoke out on social media about her situation, which led to allegations of her committing a data breach.
The Trust later dropped the case concerning Melle’s comments to the media in January as they found that no misconduct occurred. She stated that she spoke out because she felt as if she was being treated as a criminal.
According to a Christian Post report, Melle told the NMC that the incident was “not about equality, diversity or inclusion” but “a real-life medical scenario that required accurate terminology…,”
Melle also claimed that the NMC placed greater importance on the patient’s identity than on her Christian beliefs, which she said required her to refer to others by their biological sex and to avoid confusion among medical professionals.
The NMC later stated that Melle had no case to answer, concluding that the incident was driven by her beliefs rather than a desire to mistreat the patient.
Melle expressed gratitude for the outcome while stating that the actions taken following the incident were unnecessary and that there was a need for accountability.
She also stated, “It has been devastating to be labeled a risk to the public for holding beliefs which are lawful, mainstream and central to my faith. Nurses should not have to choose between their conscience, the truth and their profession.”
Many others supported her during the case, including Shadow Equalities Minister Claire Coutinho, who started a petition in support of Melle and responded to the NMC’s decision.
“Jennifer did nothing wrong. She was just doing her job when she was racially abused simply for stating the reality of biological sex. The NMC and all the other organizations that let her down need to learn serious lessons from the ordeal that Jennifer and other nurses like her have been put through. We need to know how many more hardworking nurses are still waiting for justice.”