A senior nurse was investigated and disciplined by an NHS trust for refusing to refer to a male convicted paedophile patient as a woman.
After declining to use his preferred pronouns, although agreeing to call him by his chosen female name, Jennifer Melle, 40, from Croydon, was racially abused and physically intimidated by the sex offender, identified in legal documents as “Mr. X.”
‘Potential Risk’
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has said that Melle is “a potential risk” to patients for not accepting Mr. X’s “gender identity,” according to the nurse, who said she has been “a marked woman” ever since she expressed her religious beliefs, which are protected under law, along with the philosophical belief in biological reality, or so-called “gender critical” views.The child sex offender is in a high security male prison after multiple convictions for luring boys into sex acts while pretending to be a teenage girl on social media.
‘Not Worthy of Respect’
NHS lawyers have said that Melle’s beliefs, including that humans are either male or female, are “not worthy of respect in a democratic society.”
Melle was on a night shift at St. Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Surrey, on May 22, 2024, when Mr. X was brought in, chained to two guards, from the category C prison where he was an inmate.
The six-foot-tall prisoner is described by Melle in an interview shared on social media as “huge” and of completely masculine appearance, with his sex given as male on his medical records, which made no mention of him being “transgender.”
He began disturbing other patients by shouting that he wanted to leave the hospital, and so Melle told a doctor that, “Mr. X would like to self-discharge.”
According to Melle’s account, the prisoner became agitated and yelled: “Do not call me Mr.! I am a woman!”
He then used a racially abusive term against the nurse, asking her, “Imagine if I called you a [expletive]?”
The prisoner then used the racist slur against her three more times, and lunged towards her, trying to follow her out of the room, until his prison guards brought him under control.
Threatened to Call Police
He then demanded the nurse’s name and NHS number and said he would report her to the police for “homophobia” and to the NHS Patient Advisory Liaison Service.Melle was asked for a statement on the incident the next time she was on duty, in which she said she had been impacted by the abuse she received.
She was told in response that she had to respect “equality and diversity,” as laid out in the NMC code of conduct.
Following a meeting with HR, Melle was redeployed to another unit, which she said she found “demeaning.”
A full investigation was launched, and a subsequent report found that her actions had “fallen short of the Trust’s value of Respect” and had breached the NMC Code of Conduct which states that nurses should “not express your personal beliefs (including political, religious or moral beliefs) in an inappropriate way.”
After a disciplinary hearing in October, Melle was given a final written warning and referred to the NMC.
She was moved to another ward and effectively demoted, and saw her name taken off the hospital’s internal system, meaning it is now difficult for her to pick up extra shifts.
Her claim states that the NHS unlawfully interfered with her rights under Article 9 of the Human Rights Act to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
‘A Marked Woman’
She said in statement issued by Christian Concern: “Ever since I have expressed my Christian beliefs under extreme pressure, I have been a marked woman.“I do not feel supported by my colleagues, or the NHS, following the racial abuse and threat of physical violence I received from the patient. I remained professional throughout and always treat each and every individual with dignity and respect.”
She continued: “I have been put at risk, but I am being treated like a criminal. Sadly, if you put your head above the parapet and speak truthfully on these issues in the NHS the risk is that you will be knocked down, punished severely and demoted.
“The message to me during the investigation is that I should put up with extreme racism and deny biological reality and my deeply held Christian beliefs, for the sake of ‘inclusivity’ and respecting lies.”
Malle added that she felt she had to make a stand, for the sake of many other NHS workers who she believes are “suffering in silence” because of gender ideology being embedded in the organisation.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “The NHS appears to remain captured by transgender ideology to the point it is prepared to back a convicted paedophile, who was clearly very disturbed and shouting racist comments, over the Christian nurse.
“We thought we had seen it all when it comes to controversial legal cases on these issues, but what Jennifer Melle is experiencing at the hands of this ideology is off the scale and on a whole new disturbing level.
“The Trust cannot force compelled speech on their staff and an urgent U-turn and apology is needed.”
Williams urged Streeting to investigate as a matter of urgency.
“He is already involved in the Darlington nurses’ case, and has previously said he is ‘horrified’ by how they are being treated. It’s time for government intervention on this matter.”
Eight nurses at Darlington Memorial Hospital are suing the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, their employer, for sexual discrimination and sexual harassment after Rose Henderson, a male nurse who says he is “transgender” was allowed to use a female changing room.
NHS England and the NMC have been contacted for comment on the Melle case. Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust declined to comment on ongoing proceedings, saying it wouldn’t be “appropriate.”
