Retired solicitor claims she could have died after private hospital cancelled her op when she complained about being seen by a transgender nurse

A woman who had her surgery cancelled after insisting on same-sex care says she could have been killed by the delay.

Teresa Steele had her operation at The Princess Grace Hospital scrapped after she requested that only biological women be involved in her post-operative care.

Ms Steele, a former solicitor, had made the demand after a trans nurse entered her pre-op examination room uninvited.

The private hospital in central London has since apologised for breaching her privacy and dignity after it originally accused her of discrimination. She claims the stress of the incident led her to develop an abscess.

She also alleges she was the victim of discrimination and suffered direct harm because of the decision to cancel her operation.

The Princess Grace Hospital has since apologised for breaching her privacy and dignity after it originally accused her of discrimination

But she is willing to waive legal action if the hospital – owned by private provider HCA – puts in place protections for other patients. She said she had been ‘psychologically and emotionally bolstered’ by all the support she had received over her case.

She told the Daily Telegraph: ‘I was very traumatised and on the point of collapse following the cancellation. An abscess that had not been visible on scans only a short time earlier had suddenly appeared.

‘They endangered my life by cancelling that operation.’ Ms Steele had required single-sex lavatories and said she would not discuss pronouns in her admission forms for her operation on October 10 last year. She believes she was ‘targeted’ over her gender-critical views when a trans nurse ‘wearing a blonde wig and bright scarlet lipstick’ and not involved in her care entered her private examination room.

After her complaint, emails between hospital staff said they ‘perceive the patient’s … rationale as a discrimination on gender and sex against… hospital employees’. The following evening, she was told the operation was being cancelled because they did not share her beliefs and were not ‘able to adhere to your requests’.

After mass protests, she was offered surgery on October 31 at HCA’s Wellington Hospital. But surgeons found she had an abscess and abandoned the procedure. It was finally done in February but has taken months to recover from and left deep scarring. Ms Steele is calling on HCA to ensure patients are given protections based on their sex-based rights.

She said the women who supported her had ‘saved my life’ and added: ‘I’ve been contacted by many women, including disabled women and parents of disabled daughters, some of whom have had healthcare withdrawn for asking for single sex care. It’s terrifying for them.’

A spokesman for The Princess Grace Hospital said ‘the privacy and dignity of our patients is incredibly important’ and added that Ms Steele had been invited to contribute to a policy review.