The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has told NHS England to urgently resolve the female changing room issues at Darlington Memorial Hospital, so that nurses can return to the female changing rooms without the fear of having to undress in front of a man.
After visiting the hospital this week without warning, a senior member of NHS England has subsequently described the provision for female staff as ‘inadequate’, apologised to a Darlington nurse and promised to act ‘with speed’ by providing male, female and gender-neutral changing rooms.
“We want you to feel comfortable and safe”, the Darlington nurse was told.
Backed by the Christian Legal Centre, 8 nurses, dubbed ‘The Angels of the North’, have been locked in a high-profile legal battle with County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust after being forced to share a changing room, without warning or consultation, in front of a man who ‘identifies’ as a woman called ‘Rose’.
After raising concerns about the Stonewall inspired NHS policy that allows any man to do this, HR bosses told the nurses that they needed to get ‘re-educated’ , ‘compromise’, and ‘be more inclusive’.
Instead, the nurses launched landmark legal action on the grounds of harassment and victimisation, and have received significant public support.
After going public with their case in the lead up to the General Election in June 2024, however, a now infamous poster appeared on the female changing room door.
With an NHS rainbow logo, it read in capital letters: ‘INCLUSIVE CHANGING ROOM SPACE: DO NOT REMOVE THIS SIGN.’
The hospital then ostracised and humiliated the nurses by saying that they would provide a ‘temporary’ converted office for any female staff members who did not want to get undressed in front of a man.
The room does not have a proper lock and opens on to a public corridor which is part of a clinical area.
The nurses have now had to use the office for 11 months while Rose has continued to use the female changing rooms.
Wes Streeting: “I’m horrified”
At the same time as the nurses were being forced out of their own changing room, Wes Streeting made a public statement on the case after being questioned on X by Times’ columnist, Janice Turner.
Mr Streeting said in June 2024: “I support the nurses and I’m horrified that they’ve had to resort to legal action. We’ve got to find a better way through this and I’d be happy to meet them. We’ve got to find a way through that treats trans people with respect and respects women’s safe spaces.”
In October 2024, the nurses met him at the Department for Health where he told them that he was committed to the fact that ‘sex is biological’ being reflected in the day-to-day running of the NHS under his watch.
He also asked the nurses to send their policy proposals on how these issues could be resolved.
After receiving no support from their unions, the nurses formed their own union, Darlington Nursing Union and submitted their proposals to Mr Streeting’s policy team.
The draft guidance provides a fair and manageable way forward to protect safe biological single-sex spaces for all NHS staff in line with the equality law, whilst also acknowledging the legal rights of those with the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’, under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, also met the nurses in March 2025 and discussed their case on the floor of the House of Commons. She said in a statement:
“A woman should never be forced to get undressed in the presence of a man. The case of the Darlington Nurses is yet another example of women being demonised and patronised for raising legitimate concerns about single-sex spaces.
“I fought against gender ideology in government, and I will continue to do so as Leader of the Opposition. There is no place for gender ideology in the NHS. These brave nurses have my full support in their fight to restore common sense to an environment where single sex spaces should be non-negotiable.”
Supreme Court ruling
After months passed with no action, Mr Streeting was then pressed for an answer by the Darlington Nursing Union on what action he was going to take.
In a letter, he acknowledged that it was an “important” issue but said that “given the sensitivity” he was awaiting the judgment in the Supreme Court decision in a case brought by For Women Scotland before he could take concrete and lasting action.
The ruling delivered in April made it clear that men who identify as women do not qualify as women for the purposes of single-sex spaces or employment protections, even if they possess a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). It confirmed that when services or spaces are designated for women only, men cannot demand access, regardless of self-identification or legal documentation.
Following the ruling, Mr Streeting gave an interview to The Sun, which was described as a major win for the Darlington nurses, where he promised new guidance for the NHS based on the Supreme Court ruling. He said:
“I want to make sure that the NHS is upholding the sex based rights of women who work for the NHS as well as women who use the NHS…I don’t want to see a situation where NHS staff are having to drag their employers through courts and tribunals to uphold their rights.”
Karen’s story
Then, one of the Darlington nurses, Karen Danson, who had, until then asked to remain anonymous found the strength to go public with her harrowing and highly concerning story.
Karen, who had met with Wes Streeting at the meeting in Westminster in October 2024 and had told him her story, spoke about how the presence of a man in the changing room had triggered her experiences of childhood abuse.
When she told him her story at the meeting, Mr Streeting leant forward on his chair and said to Karen: “I cannot sit here and tell you, you need to ‘broaden your mindset’” Which was the language used by the Trust to the nurses when raising their complaint.
Karen describes how she had had panic attacks and flashbacks to trauma after being repeatedly asked alone in the changing room by ‘Rose’ if she was ‘getting changed yet’.
Despite raising her story, she has been repeatedly ignored by hospital bosses who it has been revealed would have forced her to have ‘Rose’ assist in her gynaecological operation, but for an intervention by Christian Legal Centre lawyers.
Royal College of Nursing order ignored
Last month (May 2025) it was also revealed in the media that, even before the Supreme Court ruling, the Royal College of Nursing had written to the Darlington Trust telling them they were acting unlawfully. The letter ordered the Trust to provide single-sex changing rooms ‘without delay.’
Over 70 days since this order, however, the Trust has not only taken no action but has instead re-published the policy that allows male staff into female changing rooms.
After the Darlington Nursing Union again wrote to Mr Streeting highlighting the RCN developments and Karen’s story, it appears that after seven months since he met the nurses and 11 months since he said he was ‘horrified’ by their case, and with NHS guidance on these issues likely to be significantly delayed, Mr Streeting appears to have run out of patience and ordered urgent change at Darlington Memorial Hospital.
‘A way forward promised’
Bethany Hutchison, Darlington nurse and President of the Darlington Nursing Union, said: “We hugely appreciate the action initiated by Mr Streeting, NHS England and the RCN who have promised a way forward to restore our safety and dignity in the workplace in line with the law.
“We should never have had to take this action, but such has been the capture of the NHS by Stonewall on these issues that we faced no choice.
“We thank everyone for the amazing support and promise that we will not stop until this action is extended urgently to female workers across the NHS without any unnecessary delay.
“We hope that Wes Streeting and his team put into action what they have promised.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “A climate of fear has pervaded the system and many from top to bottom have been intimidated into silence and inaction. Equality and diversity policies have been weaponised to silence dissent and to prevent women’s safety and dignity being protected in the workplace.
“We are grateful for the action from Wes Streeting and NHS England in this matter and ask for swift follow through so that the nurses can return to the female changing rooms without delay.
“The action Wes Streeting takes on this matter could well be a defining moment of his career. If he does the right thing it will mark him out as a bold politician who follows through on his promises with the courage of his convictions.”
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