Darlington nurse reveals how trans changing room incident triggered abuse memories and that hospital planned to have ‘Rose’ assist in her gynaecology operation
11 May 2025 Issued by: Christian ConcernA Darlington nurse, anonymous until now, has gone public on her chilling story on how, after saying that she has experienced childhood abuse, NHS bosses still said she should get undressed in front of a man who identifies as a woman, and would even have forced her to have ‘Rose’ assist in her gynaecology operation.
The story of Karen Danson, 45, who is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, demonstrates how far the NHS has been prepared to go to uphold gender identity ideology and compromise the basic safety and dignity of female staff and patients.
A year ago, when the nurses’ high-profile legal case was launched, Karen was too afraid to go public with her story and described anonymity as ‘my armour’.
Now, encouraged by public support and horrified at her treatment by the NHS, she has decided to tell her story to, in her words, ‘reclaim my voice.’
Her story gets to the heart of why it is untenable for men to have access to female changing rooms in the NHS and in workplaces across the UK.
Karen is one of 8 nurses at Darlington Memorial Hospital locked in a legal battle with County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.
Last year, the nurses, including Karen, were told by hospital bosses that they needed to be ‘re-educated’, ‘more inclusive’ and ‘broaden their mindset’ after they raised concern about having to getting undressed in the female changing room with a man identifying as a woman called ‘Rose.’
Rose had expressed that he was sexually active with his fiancé and wasn’t taking female hormones.
The NHS policy, ‘Transitioning in the Workplace’, believed to be inspired Stonewall, is used widely across the NHS and allows men to use women’s changing facilities if they merely say they are a woman.
Last week, Health Secretary, Wes Streeting announced, following the ‘For Women Scotland’ Supreme Court ruling, that there would be ‘new rules’ on these issues ‘within weeks.’
In October 2024, Karen sat face to face with Mr Streeting and told him about her experiences of sexual abuse and how, therefore, having to change in front of a man triggers PTSD.
Mr Streeting leant forward on his chair and said to Karen: “I cannot sit here and tell you, you need to ‘broaden your mindset.’”
Six months on, no action has been taken to support the nurses, however, and they continue to use what the Trust said would be a ‘temporary’ converted office to change in.
‘Rose’ still uses the female changing room.
Karen’s story
Karen has been a nurse for six-years.
“I love my job on the day care unit and making people feel better”, she says. “I am there to be an emotional support to patients and to help take the pain away.”
She said she had heard that there was a man using the women’s changing rooms and that she had seen Rose before, but because of his very masculine appearance, including facial hair, she believed he was a man.
Then, in September 2023, Karen was in the female changing room near her locker which was at the end of the changing room and out of sight of the only door and exit.
The changing room does not have cubicles but staff lockers with a large open space where nurses change before and after working.
The changing room clicks shut and has a lock system that makes it slow to get in and out of.
“I was rummaging through my bag for my keys, and was aware that one other person was in the changing room with me”, she said. “I looked up and saw a man. He had holes in his boxer shorts so that you could unavoidably see male genitalia.”
Rose said to Karen, looking over his shoulder, watching: ‘Are you not getting changed yet?’
Karen said ‘no’ and thought: ‘why is this man asking me if I am getting changed?’
Over her shoulder again, Rose said: ‘Are you not getting changed yet?’
Karen looked at Rose and saw that he had a smirk on his face. He asked again: ‘Are you not getting changed yet?’
The question and situation swept Karen back to sexual abuse she experienced as a six-year-old at the hands of her father, who would say to her before bedtime: ‘are you getting ready/changed for bed?’
“Rose had the same look on his face as my Dad. I wanted to get out of there,” Karen said, “but I couldn’t.”
Due to her childhood trauma, Karen has had counselling for PTSD and has been given techniques to try and bring herself back into the ‘hear and now’ when she has traumatic childhood flashbacks.
“I went into panic mode. Fight or flight. I felt sick. My hands were sweating. I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “I sat down on one of the changing benches and started to message my husband. But I was glued to the seat, I couldn’t move.”
Starting to play a game on her phone to try and take herself away from the situation, she did not know how much time had passed until she heard the changing room door pass code and the door closing shut. Rose was gone.
Traumatised, Karen had nightmares about what had happened with the face of her father replacing that of Rose in the changing room in the dreams.
She experienced health issues and had to take time off work and when she was in work had to resort to getting changed in the toilet.
Trust ignored Karen’s experiences
When other nurses began to express concern about Rose’s presence and behaviour in the changing room, Karen shared her story with another nurse and said how she felt too afraid to speak out.
Together with 26 other nurses, in March 2024, however, letters were sent to the Trust outlining their concerns.
After the Trust ignored the fact that nurses like Karen were having panic attacks, the nurses were told they had ‘to compromise’ and get ‘re-educated.’ Rose reportedly offered to help educate them.
Remaining anonymous, the nurses’ subsequent legal action broke in the media with Karen’s experience featured.
Instead of taking action to support and reach out to Karen, however, in July 2024 after five of the nurses went public, the Trust gave what they said would be a ‘temporary’ changing room. A converted office, the room was for any nurse who had a problem getting changed with a man.
10 months on, Karen and the other nurses continue to use this room which they have described as ‘dehumanising’ and ‘humiliating.’
Under the Trust’s policy, there is still nothing preventing Rose using the room, which also opens onto a public corridor and does not have a proper lock.
Operation horror: ‘But Rose is a woman’
But worse was to come for Karen. By, as she says, ‘an unhappy coincidence’, she was due to have a gynaecological operation at Darlington Memorial Hospital in August 2024.
To her horror, she discovered that Rose was scheduled to be involved.
The procedure would be part robotic, and Rose’s role would involve being at the bedside, passing tools to the surgeon.
“It is difficult to put into words how I felt,” Karen said, “I immediately knew this was ethically wrong and that my condition would be made worse and more painful with the stress it would cause.”
With a colleague, Karen approached the theatre manager and explained the situation, the legal case and how Rose’s involvement would be “completely inappropriate”, and that she wanted women involved in the operation.
Astonishingly the theatre manager said: “But Rose is a woman”.
She added that she thought Karen was being “prejudiced”.
She tried to explain that she was not singling Rose out, but that there was clearly a conflict of interest and because of her childhood trauma she wanted women involved in the procedure.
Regarding Rose being removed from the operating team, Karen was asked: “How do you think that would make Rose feel?”
She was given the choice of cancelling her surgery, trying to get it done at another hospital, or allowing Rose to be part of the operation. Any delays would prolong the pain she was in and had been for some time.
After putting her position in writing, the theatre manager wrote to her and said that her request could not be accommodated “due to clinical and staffing skill mix issues.”
With legal support and advice from the Christian Legal Centre, days before the operation, Karen went to the Patient Advisory and Liaison Service (PALS).
After outlining her situation, PALS swiftly made the decision that it was not appropriate for Rose to be involved.
Despite what the theatre manager had said, it appeared very possible to reallocate staff so that Rose was not involved in the operation.
“I believed this was purely vindictive and demonstrated how low they were prepared to go,” Karen said. “Gender identity was placed above patient and staff care. They tried to punish me for the legal case I was part of and for opposing gender identity policy within the hospital.”
“I have found my voice”
Last month, Karen watched the ‘For Women Scotland’ Supreme Court ruling LIVE online. The landmark ruling confirmed that the Equality Act means biological ‘woman’ when it says ‘woman’.
Karen said she jumped for joy and screamed ‘YES!’ at the top of her voice.
When the nurses first went public with their story, Karen was afraid and was struggling with her health and confidence.
“The support from the public, the other nurses and Christian Concern has got me through”, she said. “I couldn’t have done it on my own. The other nurses are like sisters to me, and we are in this together.
“I have always been worried about telling my children. But recently I decided it was time. I said to them: ‘do you know the anonymous nurse in the Darlington legal case? That’s me.’
“They wished I had told them sooner and about what I have been through. My daughter is following the Darlington Nursing Union on X and my experiences are helping her to know what to do if anything was ever to happen to her. I wish I had told them sooner, but I was afraid and how do you find the words?
“I am telling my story now because it feels right. I am aghast at how the Trust has ignored what I have been through and placed gender identity ideology above a woman who has experienced child abuse at the hands of a man.
“Institutions pushing this ideology need to understand what many women are carrying around with them. We cannot ‘compromise’ or ‘be more inclusive.’ We shouldn’t have to be brave and go through the courts and have our livelihoods threatened.
“I found my voice. It was taken away from me as a child. We are survivors, not victims, and our voices need to be heard to help and inspire other people.
“I would encourage other women, whether you are working in the NHS, the police, or wherever: don’t suffer in silence. Don’t allow this dangerous ideology to make you believe you have done something wrong. Raise your voice and don’t be afraid.
“I looked Wes Streeting in the eye and told him my story. Why can’t he do his job and change the policy and help, not only me, but all of the Darlington nurses, and women across the country, urgently?”
Bethany Hutchison, Darlington nurse and President of the Darlington Nursing Union, said: “How Karen has been treated has been appalling and totally unacceptable. Sadly, however, we are no longer surprised. The Trust is prepared to defend a policy that allows men to access female changing rooms, at all costs. Women’s dignity and safety has been completely trampled over.
“We stand with Karen as she tells her important story and now await Mr Streeting’s new rules on these issues. It is time for us to receive the treatment and justice we, and millions of other women, deserve. We believe the Trust no longer has a legal leg to stand on.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “It has been both a privilege and a joy to get to know Karen over this past year. While her story is deeply distressing, I have been profoundly moved by the strength and clarity she has found through such a painful ordeal.
“Karen’s trauma—rooted in childhood abuse—was cruelly reawakened in a place where she should have felt safe: the nurses’ changing room. When she raised the alarm, the hospital failed to listen. Left alone, she might have been silenced again. But with the love of her colleagues and the backing of our legal team, she has found the courage to stand.
“Healing begins when injustice is exposed. Karen is bravely stepping out from behind the cloak of anonymity, not for attention, but to prevent other women from enduring what she did.
“The Trust showed not a shred of compassion for her. Instead, they clung to a harmful ideological policy—one that elevated transgender identity over a woman’s lived trauma and need for dignity and protection.
“As Wes Streeting finalises new NHS guidance, he must remember the face-to-face conversation he had with Karen. Her bravery speaks not only for herself, but for the countless women who have yet to find the strength to speak out. Their safety, their voices, and their stories matter.”
