A nurse who complained about a transgender doctor using a hospital’s female changing room was accused of racism by senior NHS staff, an employment tribunal has heard.

Charlotte Myles, a service manager at NHS Fife, said she had reviewed a decision to suspend Sandie Peggie over the row with Dr Beth Upton, who was born male but identifies as female.

Ms Myles told a tribunal in Dundee that senior figures at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy “expressed unhappiness” at her decision to allow Ms Peggie to return to work.

She said they claimed that the nurse was homophobic, had been “racist towards a doctor” and that she supported Donald Trump’s views on gender.

She said Dr Kate Searle, who was Dr Upton’s line manager, alleged there were “patient safety issues” with allowing Ms Peggie to resume her nursing job.

It was claimed that Ms Peggie had walked away from patients when Dr Upton arrived to treat them, including one who required resuscitation.