An employment tribunal brought by hospital workers against Durham and Darlington NHS Trust has adjourned for the weekend after three nurses shared their experiences in the first week of evidence reading.
Karen Danson, Carly Hoy, and leading claimant Bethany Hutchison are among the seven nurses from Darlington Memorial Hospital who have taken the trust to an employment tribunal with accusations of victimisation, harassment and indirect discrimination.
They allege the Trust’s response to their discomfort sharing a single-sex space with a biological male nurse was to tell them they needed to be “re-educated” to be more “inclusive” by a transgender colleague.
The reading of evidence began on Wednesday afternoon with the tribunal hearing Karen Danson describe ‘Rose’ Henderson as wearing tight-fitting boxer shorts and allegedly repeatedly asking the nurse if she was getting changed.
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She herself a victim of child sexual abuse, she described breaking down in tears after the encounter and suffering a panic attack.
Bethany Hutchison on used her time on Thursday to voice frustration at her Trust’s “lack of compassion, concern and respect”. D&D NHS Trust's position is that the nurses are lying.
Simon Cheetham KC, acting for the Trust, said the claimants had “embellished” their accounts and that the nurses’ media interviews “violated” the transgender nurse’s privacy.
The tribunal heard from healthcare assistant Carly Hoy on Friday, who described entering “panic mode” when, on her evidence, she says Rose Henderson was in the changing room with her and “stared” at her while she got dressed.
Nurses from Darlington Memorial Hospital are taking their trust to an employment tribunal hearing over a trans colleague's use of changing rooms at work | PA"He was just stood there looking,” said Ms Hoy, “he just stood there waiting for me to get changed.”
The three claimants are joined by Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy, Tracey Hooper and Joanne Bradbury and are being represented by the Christian Concern legal team.
Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, applauded the women for all “standing strong” in the media spotlight.
She said, “What I’ve seen with these amazing women is that they’ve got bolder and clearer and kinder and wiser as this process has gone on.
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The NHS has introduced a host of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures in the past few years | GETTY“They honestly believed this would just have been sorted and this matter would settle.”
Other supporters gathering outside the tribunal centre this week included Kellie-Jay Keane, the founder of Let Women Speak and NHS Fife nurse Sandie Peggie.
Ms Keane - who campaigns for women’s rights with the online name Posie Parker - summarised the case as “misogyny on acid”.
She told GB News, “It just seems so ridiculous - a man wants to change in a room with women and the women are the ones penalised for not wanting to get undressed in front of a bloke?
Darlington NHS nurses could face misconduct probe for complaining about sharing the same changing room as transgender colleague | GETTY“If they can treat their staff like this, then how they treat their patients has got to come under some close scrutiny.”
Nurse of 30 years Sandie Peggie travelled down to show her support for the Darlington caregivers, despite waiting on tenterhooks for the outcome of her own tribunal brought against NHS Fife.
“I think they’re doing a fabulous job,” said Ms Peggie, adding “they’re absolutely amazing.
“I’m so pleased that I can support them and they’re also supporting me.”
Another campaigner for Let Women Speak, Anna Scantlebury, explained her first granddaughter was born on April 16 this year - the day of the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.
Anna said, “I want to be able to say I went to Let Women Speak and helped organise it so that I don’t say I did nothing”.
The employment tribunal - B. Hutchison and others v Durham & Darlington NHS Trust - is expected to last four weeks, running from October 20 until November 14.
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