Retired lawyer claims she could have died after private hospital canceled her surgery when she complained she was seen by a transgender nurse

A retired attorney whose private practice was dropped when she asked to receive intimate care only from female medics claims the delay could have killed her.

Teresa Steele was booked for abdominal surgery at The Princess Grace in London last October.

Ms Steele had requested access to same-sex facilities during her admission and said she would not discuss pronouns.

However, a transgender nurse entered her private examination room, a move Ms Steele now believes was intentional due to her gender-critical beliefs.

In the ensuing argument, Mrs Steele’s surgery was canceled and she developed an abscess, a painful pool of pus, meaning subsequent care had to be postponed.

She said The Telegraph the delay in the operation, which was not completed until February, could have killed her, adding: “There was a sudden and discernible deterioration in my health.”

“They put my life in danger by canceling that operation. I could have died of sepsis.”

Ms Steele’s original surgery was canceled after the row over the trans nurse entering her room.

She complained to the hospital’s management shortly after the incident and from then on asked for same-sex care.

Ms Steele also asked that any man or trans woman only enter her room with prior permission.

As a result, she claims that the hospital, operated by private healthcare provider HCA, has canceled her surgery.

In an email notifying Ms Steele of this, hospital management wrote that they did not share her beliefs and could not comply with her request.

This sparked outrage from women’s rights activists, and eventually the hospital offered to perform Ms. Steele’s original surgery.

However, in the weeks following her original scheduled surgery date, Ms. Steele developed the abscess, meaning it couldn’t go through.

She claims she has had long-term health problems due to the delay, but added that she will not take legal action if HCA agrees to change its policy and guarantee same-sex care.

Ms Steele claims the problem isn’t just about her, with other women telling her about similar experiences in private healthcare.

“It is particularly distressing to hear from women with disabilities, including a young woman who is paralyzed and forced by a private agency to accept intimate care from men as she threatens to have her care withdrawn,” she said.

Ms Steele believes it is a violation of their human rights to force women to accept intimate care from biological men, including trans women.

The Princess Grace Hospital, where Teresa Steele’s surgery was canceled after she requested that she be treated only by female medics

HCA management has admitted that Ms Steele’s privacy and dignity were violated when the trans nurse entered her room.

However, they claim this was unintentional as the nurse in question did not have access to her patient records.

They also claim that the original decision to cancel her surgery was because she could not guarantee same-sex care at short notice.

A spokeswoman for The Princess Grace Hospital said: ‘The privacy and dignity of our patients is incredibly important, and we are in the final stages of reviewing our policy in this area.

“We’ve invited Ms. Steele along with others to share their views and insights to support these updates.

“We remain committed to always meeting patient requests where we can safely do so.

“On rare occasions, we have to cancel or postpone a procedure to give us more time to comply with these requests.

“We would always do this prioritizing patient safety and the urgency of their care and try to reschedule once we’ve been able to fully discuss their individual needs.”

HCA is working with the NHS to open a £100 million private hospital next year in partnership with the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.