When a group of female NHS nurses complained to hospital bosses about the ‘intimidating’ behaviour of a trans colleague in their shared changing room, they may have expected a sympathetic hearing at least.
But not only did officials dismiss the concerns of the long-serving staff members, they allegedly told the nurses they needed to get ‘educated’ and broaden their minds.
It was, the nurses say, an ‘offensive’ response to their legitimate complaints that their colleague’s presence was ‘degrading and humiliating’. They also told the HR department that the 26-year-old stared at their breasts when they were getting undressed and lingered ‘longer than necessary’ in the changing room.
The nurses say their colleague – who is understood not to have had gender reassignment surgery – had told fellow workers at Darlington Memorial Hospital they had stopped taking cross-sex hormones because they were trying to get their girlfriend pregnant and therefore is ‘a sexually active biological male’.
Now, after being dissatisfied with the response from bosses, eight of the nurses are launching an unprecedented employment tribunal against the NHS Trust that employs them, claiming harassment, indirect discrimination, victimisation and human rights violations.
Today, four of them have bravely chosen to speak to the Mail to describe how they are taking their legal action to stand up for women’s rights.
Bethany Hutchison, 34, a surgery nurse, said: ‘It’s disgraceful that nurses are ending up in tears prior to their shifts. We are there to be an emotional support for patients who are about to undergo surgery, and it’s very difficult to do that if you’re in a state of distress from having to change in front of a male.
‘I think women need to stop being fearful about this and use their voice. We have fought for so long to get women’s rights but it’s just gone backwards, and I’m not prepared to see that.’
Their legal claim, seen by the Mail, says that since August 2023 they have repeatedly raised concerns with hospital managers about the trans nurse, called Rose, who has been given access to the female changing room. The nurses allege that Rose ‘stares at female colleagues, in particular at their breast area, as they are getting changed’.
A formal complaint, signed by 26 nurses, was sent to bosses at the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust in April. But a human resources manager allegedly dismissed their concerns, and said the nurses needed to ‘broaden their mindset’, be ‘more inclusive’ and ‘be educated’.
Ms Hutchison said: ‘It is so offensive to us because we are all educated – we need a degree in order to do this job and some of us have multiple degrees. We’ve got very intelligent people on our ward so it was disgusting for them to say something like that to us.
‘We’re not transphobic and we’re not fearful of trans people – we believe they need their own changing space that’s safe for them.’
Tracey Hooper, Annice Grundy, Lisa Lockey and Bethany Hutchison have bravely spoken out
Lisa Lockey, 51, another claimant, said: ‘We get transgender patients through our unit and we look after them. We’re nurses, we care about people, that’s our job, so it is an insult that we’ve been made to feel like we’re bigots.’
The nurses want hospital bosses to find an alternative room for Rose to change in. National NHS policy allows its staff to identify as the gender of their choosing and access the relevant single-sex facilities, but say that ‘alternative arrangements must be provided’ if this is deemed inappropriate.
Some of the nurses taking legal action want to remain anonymous, but four of them decided to break cover last night.
Ms Lockey said: ‘We’ve all been really uneasy about [coming forward]. We know there’s a lot of trans activists who will probably hate us for what we’re doing. But it’s not against trans people. This is about protecting a female’s space. It’s not to hurt anybody, we want a safe policy.’
Tracey Hooper, 45, another claimant, said sharing the changing room with Rose ‘makes me feel on edge,’ adding: ‘You scan the changing room before you start to undress. It’s just very uncomfortable. I don’t want to get changed in front of a biological man, and I don’t want to see him getting changed either.
‘We’re not asking for him to go in the male changing room either, he should be provided for. Everybody should be provided for so they feel comfortable and safe.’
As an infection control measure, the nurses must change their clothes at the hospital before and after their shift. It’s claimed many female staff members now use toilet cubicles instead of the changing room to avoid Rose.
A fourth claimant, Annice Grundy, 54, said: ‘I won’t get changed in that changing room any more – I’ve found somewhere else to change, which I don’t feel I should have to do.
‘My issue, now I know the Trust policy, is anybody can be in there – anyone who identifies as female can use that changing room.’
Last month, nurses told this newspaper just how uncomfortable Rose made them feel in the dressing room. One said: ‘We don’t feel safe because we strip down to our underwear and Rose doesn’t just stay by his locker. He walks around in his boxer shorts.’
Another nurse said she was ‘close to tears’ during one incident. She said: ‘I was rummaging in my bag trying to find my lanyard and keys for the locker when a man’s voice behind me said, “Are you not getting changed yet?” ’
The woman – who was sexually abused as a child, has post-traumatic stress disorder and struggles to be alone around men – added: ‘He stood there, two metres from me, with a scrub top on and with tight black boxer shorts with holes in them and asked [again] whether I was getting changed yet… I felt glued to my seat, I could not move. My hands started to sweat. I was petrified and felt sick and began hyperventilating.’
Today the nurses also say they are worried about the impact on foreign-born hospital staff with different religious backgrounds, who had taken to wearing leggings and tops underneath their uniforms to avoid their bodies being seen, despite the discomfort this causes during work.
Ms Lockey said: ‘It made me really angry. They’ve come over here to help the NHS and have not been treated fairly by our Trust.’
The NHS has long been the subject of criticism regarding its approach to single-sex spaces, particularly single-sex wards.
Under current NHS England guidance, trans people are allowed to be accommodated on a ward which is ‘in line with their stated gender identity’ and this ‘does not depend on having a gender recognition certificate or legal name change’. However planned changes to the NHS Constitution will mean a trans woman would not be put on an all-female ward.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also published guidance saying single-sex spaces could exclude transgender people if it was considered a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’, such as privacy or safety.
But cases such as that of the Darlington nurses shows how unclear some employers are about how to handle self-identification guidance.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which is backing the nurses’ claim, said: ‘This case demonstrates as clear as day that this is an issue of biology not ideology. Once we lose a sense of physical reality all kinds of real and dangerous consequences emerge.
Darlington Memorial Hospital says the allegations are being investigated
‘Legislating to protect and promote “gender identity” places women at risk, which is so strikingly evidenced in this case.
‘There should be no place in workplaces for transgender ideology that denies science and biological reality, and which is exploited in this way.
‘The nurses in this hospital have spoken out with fear and trepidation. Between them they have decades of experience on hospital wards, and they are the ones that should be protected and comforted as they simply seek to do the job they love without fear of retribution for speaking up. We stand with this dedicated group of professionals and will pursue this matter until common sense prevails and justice is done.’
A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘The Trust would like to emphasise that at this stage the claims being made are allegations which need to be fully investigated and reviewed.
‘The Trust has initiated this through its internal processes and this work continues. However, as the allegations are now also subject to active legal action, it would not be appropriate for the Trust to comment further at this stage.’
Rose was approached for comment, but did not respond.
