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Labour has sparked fresh fury after telling a nurse new single-sex guidance will not apply to workplaces including the NHS.

Anger has erupted after Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson met Jennifer Melle - suspended after misgendering a paedophile patient - for face-to-face talks on "extreme gender identity ideology" being pushed in the public sector.

Their showdown came as Ms Phillipson stalls on publishing updated guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the wake of last year's Supreme Court judgement which ruled a woman was defined in law by the gender assigned at birth.

She he has yet to bring the document to Parliament, despite having it since September 4.

Ms Melle, who was frogmarched out of St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, south London, after a 6ft beared sex offender trans prisoner objected to being called "Mr", begged her for witch hunts to end.

But she was told the NHS will be immune from new guidance which will apply only to services and associations.

The extraordinary revelation will spark fears Labour is doing little to address the worries of frontline female nurses who feel humiliated and frightened as men are freely allowed into female changing rooms.

One source close to the showdown meeting - the first talks between a government minister and NHS worker over "radical rans ideology" - told the Express: "They simply don't know what they are doing or what they are saying. The Government is simply stringing us along and messing people about."

Under the Equality Act 2010 a service provider is broadly defined as any person, business, organisation, or public body concerned with the provision of services, goods, or facilities to the public, or a section of the public.

The Act prohibits providers from discriminating against, harassing, or victimising individuals based on protected characteristics including disability, race, sex, and age.

Asked about the ongoing delay in publishing the EHRC guidance on singlesex spaces Ms Phillipson said: "There's no delay, it's just the process that we are following. I do want to get that good practice out there into the world. What I would say is the code of practice applies to services and associations. It doesn't apply to the workplace regulations. So that really is a matter for the NHS... and how they intend to uphold their responsibilities as an employer."

Single mum-of-two Ms Melle, 41, was suspended and disciplined after the paedophile patient arrived shackled to guards from a men's prison for treatment for a urinary infection and required a catheter.

But he objected to being called "Mr" and subjected the Christian nurse to a torrent of racial abuse and threatening behaviour.

Last month Ms Melle, who was removed from duty for nine months after the incident in 2024, was reinstated after a public outcry.

During the meeting she tearfully told her story to Ms Phillipson and Health Minister Karen Smyth.

Ms Phillipson confirmed no one should ever have to endure the racial abuse Ms Melle suffered and stressed anyone must be free to hold and express their beliefs in the workplace.

She added that no teacher should be compelled to use someone's preferred pronouns in an educational setting and Ms Smyth noted that the same principle applies within the NHS.

Her case follows that of seven nurses in Darlington who were found to be victims of harassment and sex discrimination after County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust allowed a biological male trans woman to undress in front them.

And in Scotland nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife after she complained about having to share a changing room with a transgender medic.

Ahead of her meeting Ms Melle delivered a 25,000 signature petition to the Department for Health calling on the Government to finally publish EHRC guidance on single-sex spaces.

She is taking Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust to an employment tribunal hearing claiming harassment, discrimination, victimisation, and breaches of freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

She also faces two outstanding Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness-to-practice investigations over "misgendering" the sex offender - known as Patient X - and speaking about the abuse she suffered at his hands.

Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: "Jennifer has been dragged through the mire for two long years. And for what?

"Radical gender ideology that makes a mockery of the law. The Government must act to end these absurd witch hunts."

Ms Melle said: "The Government, and all political parties, should be very concerned and alarmed by my case.

"I, and nurses across the country, need urgent action so that no nurse has to go through what I have."

Andrea Williams, who heads the Christian Legal Centre which has supported her throughout her ordeal, said: "Unclear and unlawful policies have led directly to cases like those of Jennifer Melle, the Darlington nurses, and Sandie Peggie.

"The system is simply not fit for purpose, and no one in authority seems willing or able to take decisive action.

"In the meantime, it is ordinary, courageous nurses on the NHS front line who pay the price."

A government spokesperson said: "Everyone deserves to feel safe and be treated with respect in their workplace and the racial abuse Jennifer Melle endured is absolutely unacceptable.

"The EHRC has submitted a draft code of practice for services, public functions and associations to Ministers, and we are reviewing it with the care it deserves."