EXCLUSIVE: Trailblazing NHS nurses – known as the Magnificent Seven – have won a landmark biological sex victory plunging the NHS into crisis.
The Magnificent Seven: The nurses from Darlington Memorial Hospital (Image: North News & Pictures Ltd)
Seven nurses have won a sensational biological sex test case in a landmark ruling that has seismic ramifications for Britain.
In a landmark judgment, an employment tribunal ruled that County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust had unlawfully discriminated against and harassed the female medics by requiring them to share changing rooms with a biological male.
The ruling confirms the Trust’s policy allowing men into women’s spaces is unlawful and violates the rights of its female staff.
The tribunal’s judgement said: “By requiring the claimants to share a changing room with a biological male trans woman…the respondent engaged in unwanted conduct related to sex and gender reassignment which had the effect of violating the dignity of the claimants and creating for the claimants a hostile, humiliating and degrading environment.”
The landmark judgement is a major victory for those who have campaigned to protect and uphold women’s rights in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court ruling.
And it will pile more pressure on the Government to act to ensure the public sector – and the NHS in particular – adheres to the law.
The seven nurses arrive at the start of their employment tribunal (Image: PA)
Nurses working on a day care ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital took their NHS bosses to a tribunal to lay bare in detail how they had been left crippled by fear after Rose Henderson, a biological male identifying as a woman, was given free access to their safe space.
The tribunal heard how NHS bosses “penalised” them after they complained and were targeted under the trust’s Transitioning In The Workplace policy.
Their case hinged on the policy’s legality.
Mother-of-two Bethany Hutchison, 36, who led the legal challenge, told how their war against political correctness was waged on behalf of millions of vulnerable women and girls.
She said: “This is a victory for common sense and for every woman who simply wants to feel safe at work. Women deserve access to single-sex spaces without fear or intimidation. Forcing us to undress in front of a man was not only degrading but dangerous. The ruling sends a clear message: the NHS cannot ignore women’s rights in the name of ideology.
“We stood up because we knew this was wrong. No woman should be forced to choose between her job and her safety. This ruling is a turning point, and we will keep fighting until every woman in the NHS is guaranteed the dignity and protection she deserves.”
Their case, supported by lawyers from the Christian Legal Centre, challenged a “Stonewall-inspired policy” adopted by the Trust.
Action came after Rose, a male nurse identifying as female, menacingly loitered as they changed.
The group action also included Karen Danson, 46, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Annice Grundy, 56, Lisa Lockey, 52, Carly Hoy, 31, Tracey Hooper, 47, and Jane Peveller, 51, and was backed by Harry Potter author and women’s rights activist J.K. Rowling.
None was informed their room would be infiltrated by a biological male, with one left paralysed by fear when she heard his voice. Another suffered a panic attack after being asked when alone: “Are you getting changed yet?”
In April last year, the Supreme Court ruled the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer only to a biological woman and to biological sex, with subsequent guidance from the equality watchdog amounting to a blanket ban on trans people using toilets and other services of the gender they identify as.
Mrs Hutchison said: “NHS Trusts across the country now need to implement the law after the ruling. It is shocking that has not happened and the delaying tactics being used, for example, by the Government and the Royal College of Nursing. None of us should have had to put our careers on the line for taking this stand, but sometimes in life it takes ordinary people to do extraordinary things.”
The tribunal in Newcastle heard complaints were first made by the nurses on the day surgery unit in 2023. A year later 26 women signed a letter complaining about Rose’s use of and conduct within the changing room.
The nurses’ evidence opened with the testimony of Ms Danson who described a disturbing encounter in which Rose, wearing revealing boxer shorts, repeatedly asked if she was going to get changed, causing her to panic and relive past abuse.
She said: “The overwhelming support from people from all backgrounds has kept us going. They understood what our employer refused to: women deserve boundaries and respect. I should never have had to tell my deeply personal and traumatic story, but sadly the NHS gave me no choice. There needs to be cultural and lasting change across the NHS, so that no woman has to go through something like this again.”
Ms Lockey added: “It’s beyond belief we spent weeks explaining something so basic: why women deserve privacy in a female changing room. This should never have been up for debate, but we were given no choice by the Trust and had to take this stand. I think they thought we would give up and the issue would blow over, but we didn’t and it hasn’t. The support from the public has meant everything to us.”
Incredibly 80% of the Trust’s workforce are women, but the nurses told how they felt marginalised because of a woke agenda and refusal to apply the law.
