Trans row nurses advised to change elsewhere

Eight nurses have taken legal action over a hospital trust's changing room policy

Hospital bosses told female nurses who objected to sharing their changing room with a trans colleague they could change in another location, an employment tribunal has heard.

Eight nurses have raised a claim over the use of changing rooms at Darlington Memorial Hospital by Rose Henderson, a biological male who identifies as a woman.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust's transitioning in the workplace policy allowed anyone who declared their gender was fully different from their biological sex to use the single-sex space of their choice.

Managers told the tribunal in Newcastle they were trying to balance everyone's rights and asking Rose to change elsewhere would have been "discrimination".

The tribunal heard 26 women connected to the hospital's day surgery unit (DSU) signed a letter in March 2024 complaining to bosses about Rose's use of the women's changing room and alleged conduct in there.

The nurses work at Darlington Memorial Hospital

Jillian Bailey, workforce experience manager, told the tribunal that once a person had declared to a line manager they were "living their life fully in that gender", they could use the single-sex space that matched their preference.

The nurses' barrister, Niazi Fetto KC, asked if that would then mean people whose biological sex did correspond with the single-sex facility would therefore not have "exclusive right to that space", to which Mrs Bailey replied "yes".

The 2021 policy stated that anyone not wanting to share their single-sex space should use "alternative facilities", although it did not specify what those should be, the tribunal heard.

Mrs Bailey accepted the policy did not actually provide a solution for those objecting to sharing, but added: "It doesn't say they have to use another facility, it says they can choose to use another facility."

'Overwhelmed by guidance'

At a meeting with the nurses, Mrs Bailey said she made several suggestions, for example shifts could be staggered, Rose could use a cubicle in the changing room or dividers could be provided, but the nurses said they were not practical solutions.

Mrs Bailey said the meeting was "difficult" because there were "two competing issues", namely Rose "being discriminated against" by being asked to change elsewhere and the staff that "didn't want to share the changing facilities with Rose".

"It was about trying to balance the different needs of the people," Mrs Bailey said.

Afterwards, she suggested managers tell the nurses that, while they may feel uncomfortable, the trust was respecting Rose's rights and there were "other options" for those complaining, the tribunal heard.

Mrs Bailey told the tribunal the risk of asking Rose to use a different changing room was that it would be discrimination.

Mr Fetto asked if there was not a risk of discriminating against the complaining nurses, who also had a "protected characteristic", to which Mrs Bailey replied it was about taking a "proportionate approach" and "offering other options" for those concerned about their privacy in the changing room.

Mr Fetto asked if the only accommodation the trust would make was for the nurses to change elsewhere, to which Mrs Bailey replied: "Yes, because Rose had been using those facilities without issue for a number of years."

Mrs Bailey also said she was "quite overwhelmed" by the "different pieces of national guidance that all seemed to be saying something different".

'Accepted by colleagues'

The tribunal also heard from Tracy Wainwright, Rose's manager in the operating department.

Ms Wainwright said Rose had been transitioning and using the changing room since beginning work as an operational department practitioner in September 2019.

She said Rose had been using the changing room for four and a half years with "no objections", adding: "Rose is accepted by all her work colleagues of 150 plus staff."

Ms Wainwright said she heard "rumblings" about Rose but no official complaint was made and she did not know if rumours that Rose had stopped hormone treatment were true.

"I had no evidence of that," Ms Wainwright said. "It wasn't factual."

Ms Wainwright admitted saying in correspondence to managers that some people "don't understand transitioning", but told the tribunal: "That doesn't necessarily mean they have a problem with someone transitioning, they are totally different things."

The tribunal has heard posters were put up on the changing room door declaring it to be "inclusive".

Ms Wainwright said she believed they had been put up by colleagues wanting to support Rose and they were quickly taken down.

The tribunal continues.