Christian nurse, Jennifer Melle, has been suspended by an NHS Trust after she spoke to the media about how she was investigated and disciplined for refusing to refer to a male child sex offender patient as a woman.
The convicted paedophile, ‘Mr X’, 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.
After refusing to refer to Mr X as a ‘she’ while on duty, Jennifer Melle, 40, from Croydon, was racially abused and physically threatened.
Following an investigation, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals referred Jennifer to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), who said in a letter that Jennifer is ‘a potential risk’ for not using Mr X’s preferred ‘gender identity.’
To date, the hospital has done nothing to address how she was treated by the patient and has continued to treat her like the criminal.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Jennifer is taking legal action against the Trust on the grounds of harassment, discrimination and human rights’ breaches, in a case that is believed to be unprecedented.
In response to her claims, NHS lawyers have said that Christian beliefs Miss Melle holds, that we are born male and female, are ‘not worthy of respect in a democratic society.’
After her story broke in the media as front page news on Sunday 23 March, her story was viewed millions of times online and supported by J.K Rowling.
When Jennifer came into work at St Helier hospital in South London the following day, she was hugged and greeted by members of staff who thanked her for what she had done.
Many student nurses also contacted Jennifer thanking her for the stand she had taken.
The mood in the hospital quickly turned to one of fear, however, when staff were told not to speak about the story publicly or to speak to Jennifer about it.
This week, Jennifer was running a clinic with patients waiting for consultation with a doctor when, without warning, she was pulled into an ‘informal’ meeting and told that she had to meet with the Chief Nurse the following morning at 9am.
Accompanied by a Darlington Nursing Union representative, Jennifer met with the Chief Nurse and another member of staff in a porter cabin at the back of the hospital.
Lasting only five minutes, Jennifer was told there had been a ‘potential data breach’, after her story was shared in the media, which could amount to ‘gross misconduct.’
Jennifer was told she would be suspended on full pay and would be banned from the hospital premises.
Pushed on what the grounds for suspension were for a nurse with an unblemished record, the Chief Nurse refused to state the specifics of the allegations pending a full investigation.
Told to collect her belongings, Jennifer was then escorted from the premises in tears.
Kemi Badenoch: ‘She has my full support’
Following her suspension, Jennifer said:
“I am devastated to have been suspended simply for whistleblowing. To this day, I have not even been told what I have supposedly done wrong.
“As a dedicated Christian nurse, I am experiencing relentless institutional abuse, harassment, bullying, and racial discrimination.
“Ever since I expressed my Christian beliefs under extreme pressure, I have been a marked woman.
“Despite being the one placed at risk, I am the one being punished. I have been made to feel like a criminal.
“The message I have received throughout this investigation is clear: I am expected to tolerate extreme racism, deny biological reality, and suppress my deeply held Christian beliefs—all in the name of ‘inclusivity’ and protecting falsehoods.
“I am trusting in Jesus to guide me through this. I must take a stand. I genuinely worry about how many other NHS workers are silently enduring similar injustices.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “This is blatant, unlawful victimisation. Jennifer’s decision to speak out about her treatment is a legally protected act under the Equality Act.
“The NHS has become so entrenched in transgender ideology that it is willing to side with a man brought in from prison in chains —who was openly shouting racist abuse—over a Christian nurse.
“We have seen many shocking cases in recent years, but what Jennifer Melle is enduring takes this issue to a whole new, deeply disturbing level.
“What we are looking for here is an immediate U-turn and a full apology—not a suspension and yet another investigation.
“Internal investigations usually become very prolonged and an exercise in buying time to piece together the NHS narrative.
“We call on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to intervene. He is already engaged in the Darlington nurses’ case and has expressed his horror at their treatment. It is time for government action to stop this injustice.
“We will stand with Jennifer for as long as it takes to secure justice—not just for her, but for all nurses who face discrimination under this harmful ideology.”
Last night, leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch described Jennifer’s treatment as ‘completely crazy and said: ‘She has my full support. It’s time the Government pulls its finger out and intervenes to make it clear no one should be punished at work for stating biological reality to paedophiles.’
Background to the story
On the night of May 22, 2024, Jennifer began her shift at the hospital, where a Pride Progress Flag—symbolising support for transgender rights and gender identity affirmation—flew from the rooftop.
Miss Melle, who came to the UK from Uganda as a child, and has worked her way up to become a senior nurse, had been told along with her colleagues that Mr X had been brought in for treatment from a Category C men’s prison and was a sex offender.
He entered the hospital chained to two guards and was clearly masculine in appearance, standing over six feet tall and of large build.
At 10pm, a junior colleague approached Miss Melle in a distressed state saying that Mr X wanted to self-discharge. He was shouting and upsetting other elderly and vulnerable patients on the ward.
The doctor had been called for guidance on the discharge but had not yet responded. As the senior nurse on the ward, Jennifer followed her colleague to take charge of the situation and to provide support.
Looking at the patient’s medical records, she saw that the patient was recorded as male, not female or transgender. On the name board next to the bed, it simply gave the feminine name.
With her colleague finally getting through to the doctor on the phone, Jennifer requested to speak to him. She said to the doctor that: ‘Mr X would like to self-discharge.’
Overhearing the call, enraged Mr X screamed: “Do not call me Mr! I am a woman!”
Still on the phone to the doctor, Jennifer called back to Mr X that she was speaking to the doctor and was working out what medication could be given before he was discharged.
Finishing the call, she approached the patient’s room.
‘Imagine if I called you a n*****?’
Stepping inside, Jennifer found Mr X pacing up and down in chains.
Jennifer politely said: ‘I am sorry I cannot refer to you as her or she, as it’s against my faith and Christian values but I can call you by your name.’
She then began to relay what the doctor had said, but then the abuse and vitriol escalated.
‘Imagine if I called you n*****’, Mr X yelled. ‘How about I call you n*****? Yes, black n*****!’
Jennifer said if he carried on, she would have to call security.
Mr X then lunged threateningly towards Jennifer and pursued her out of the room until he was eventually held back by the guards.
He then shouted: ‘I want your name and NHS number and am going to report you to the police for homophobia and to Patient Advice and Liaison Service’ (PALS).
One of the guards approached Jennifer and said: ‘Why can’t you just call him what he wants?’
Jennifer reiterated what she had already said about her Christian beliefs, and the guard said no more.
Returning, Jennifer said, using Mr X’s feminine name: ‘I got you your pain relief.’
After having the painkillers, Mr X calmed down and was quiet until the morning.
‘God created them male and female’
Afraid and upset, but keeping it inside, Jennifer handed over to colleagues on the next shift but felt unable to speak to anyone about what had happened.
Another colleague, who is not black, also called Mr X ‘he’ that evening but was not disciplined for doing so.
Shortly after arriving home, Jennifer received a call from a colleague who had taken over her shift. They said that Mr X had been shouting for her and repeating the threat that he was going to make a complaint to PALS.
Sleepless nights followed.
The next time Jennifer was on night shift, she was pulled aside by a ward manager and asked to make a statement about what had happened.
After Jennifer relayed that she was still feeling impacted by the racial and potential physical attacks, she was told that despite that she still had to respect “equality and diversity” according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council code of conduct.
Jennifer said she had no issues with people’s sexuality but also asked where the respect was for her Christian beliefs and said that she ‘could not deny biological reality’.
As a Christian, Jennifer believes that the Bible is unambiguous about human sex, as it is written in Genesis 1:27, that:
‘So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.’
Over the next few days Jennifer said she felt pressured to provide management with a statement.
She was then told that she must attend a meeting with HR and that if she refused to comply, she would be sent home until an investigation was completed.
She was then redeployed to another unit, which she found this to be hurtful and demeaning.
Regulatory breach
An investigation report subsequently concluded that: ‘the Code of Conduct outlines that in order to treat people as individuals and to uphold their dignity nurses should avoid making assumptions and should recognise Diversity and individual choice.’
The report cited 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. Therefore, although [Jennifer] felt unable to identity Patient X using the preferred pronouns due to her religion, as outlined in the NMC Code of Conduct, it could be perceived that [Jennifer’s] actions could…be seen as a potential breach of the code.’
She was accused of ‘not respecting the patient’s preferred identity’ and told her actions and behaviour had ‘fallen short of the Trust’s value of Respect’.
Summoned to a disciplinary hearing in October 2024, Jennifer was given a final written warning and has been referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Since the incident, she has been moved to another ward and effectively demoted. Her name was wiped off the internal system, making it difficult to apply for extra shifts at the hospital.
Her capacity to earn much needed extra money was therefore removed and she and her family have suffered as a result.
Under severe pressure within the system, and with her career and livelihood under investigation and at serious risk, Jennifer faced no alternative but to file a legal claim on the grounds of harassment and direct discrimination.
She says that the NHS has unlawfully interfered with her rights under Article 9 ECHR to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, especially with her right to manifest her religion by seeking to compel her to use preferred pronouns.
Jennifer’s case follows other high profile legal cases involving nurses in Darlington and Scotland taking legal action against the NHS over being forced to undress in female changing rooms in front of men ‘identifying’ as women.
Find out more about Jennifer Melle