Five NHS nurses have said they were forced out of their changing rooms after complaining about a trans colleague.
The group at Darlington Memorial Hospital launched a legal case in June alleging sexual harassment against their employer, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.
The nurses, who have been dubbed the “Darlington Five” and compared to the Ford Dagenham workers who fought for equal pay, claim the trust ignored their concerns about sharing a changing room with a staff member who was born biologically male but now identifies as a woman.
They reported that vulnerable women, including those with past trauma and whose religious and cultural beliefs prevented them from undressing around men, suffered panic attacks as a result of the arrangement.
The women said they had been left feeling “degraded and dehumanised” after being offered a “temporary” locker room to change in instead.
In July, the nurses were informed that their ward manager’s office was being cleared out and would become a “temporary” locker room for anyone uncomfortable undressing in front of colleagues who were assigned male at birth.
‘Humiliated and dehumanised’
In a joint statement, the nurses said: “We were told the locker room would be ‘temporary’ until a solution was found. This locker room, however, does not appear to be temporary and no solution has been found.
“Changing in this room has made us feel humiliated, embarrassed, isolated, ostracised, degraded and dehumanised.
“Ultimately this ‘locker room’ still falls under the same policy as any other changing room facility in the trust and, therefore, if a male identifying as a female wanted to access it, they could.”
Initially, the “locker room” had nothing in it other than one chair and a hook on the back of the door, it is understood.
Nurses changing in the room have had to leave their belongings in piles on the floor, which they said was an infection and security risk.
The room also opens straight on to a busy ward corridor and is opposite a patient side room. While the door has a key press lock, when it is opened anyone undressing inside is exposed, giving the women insufficient privacy, it is claimed.
Lockers have only been provided in the last few weeks, but there are not enough for all the women wanting to use the room and the space is limited.
The only other space the women could use to change in is a single occupancy cubicle on the day surgery ward, described by nursing staff as “claustrophobic” and inappropriately located in a room sometimes used for patient discharge.
‘Wholly inadequate’
The five whistleblowers – Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy, Tracey Hooper and Joanne Bradbury – said the “temporary” changing arrangement was wholly inadequate.
They also raised concerns after the trust’s workforce director wrote to each nurse, cautioning them against making any further allegations against the hospital or its staff “on any media platforms” and warning that their “behaviour” could lead to disciplinary action.
The letter also warned: “Any behaviour, including that outside of work, that is considered inappropriate or disrespectful and/or which is directed towards another employee will not be tolerated and will be investigated appropriately under the trust’s disciplinary policy.”
In a joint statement, the nurses said: “We continue to be appalled at how we and our female colleagues are being humiliated and dehumanised by the hospital and trust. Instead of listening and acting on our concerns and the public and media outcry, they have doubled down, putting transgender ideology before women’s safety.”
A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said that the letter “acknowledges individuals’ rights to raise concerns and sets out our commitment to providing a safe, secure, and respectful working environment for all colleagues and emphasises that there are robust internal systems and policies in place for raising serious allegations involving the personal circumstances of individual colleagues, in a way that is fair and maintains confidentiality for all those involved…
“We apologise if this letter has been interpreted differently and for any upset this may have caused.”
They added that “a private, lockable changing room and an office which has been converted into a locker room for the storage of belongings” had been made available to the female nurses.
