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A medical professional who was cautioned over her manner of addressing a transgender patient has reached a settlement with the NHS trust that employed her.

Jennifer Melle, who lives in Croydon in south London, told her employer that a trans patient directed racial abuse at her at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton during May 2024 after she used the title Mr when speaking to them.

The woman, aged 41, received a formal written warning at the time and kept her job, while Epsom and St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust also warned the patient that behaviour involving intimidation and racism would not be accepted.

However, Ms Melle was subsequently suspended on full pay after sharing her account with reporters in March 2025.

The trust expressed concern that media coverage could have made the patient identifiable, potentially breaching data protection rules.

She resumed her clinical duties in January following a private disciplinary hearing that concluded no additional action would be taken over the alleged breach.

Epsom and St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust has now agreed to settle Ms Melle’s case ahead of a tribunal due to commence on April 13, according to the campaign group Christian Concern.

Ms Melle, who came to the UK from Uganda and has worked at the hospital for 12 years, could not discuss the financial terms but was generally satisfied that her employer had finally decided to make things right.

She was looking forward to focusing on the career she loved rather than having to rebut various unsubstantiated claims.

This situation should never have arisen and no nurse or other health worker should ever have to go through what she experienced simply for being honest, carrying out their responsibilities, and flagging racial harassment and threats of physical violence from a patient.

Ms Melle remains the subject of ongoing regulatory action by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Her distress was considerable not only for herself but for every nurse who should be able to practise according to their conscience, biological reality, and basic safeguarding principles without fear.

She had been through the most difficult period of her life and it was far from over.

A spokesperson for Epsom and St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust said racism directed at staff members was completely unacceptable, as was the unauthorised disclosure of a patient’s private medical information in public.

The trust was sorry Miss Melle had gone through this and that the patient received a written warning, but that all staff members were required to maintain patient confidentiality at all times.