Darlington nurses, who are in the midst of a legal row over trans women being allowed in female changing rooms, have set up a new union to defend women in the workplace.

A group of nurses from County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT) have lodged an employment tribunal case for sexual discrimination and sexual harassment over the ongoing issue.

Some members of the group, from Darlington Memorial Hospital's Day Surgery unit, spoke publicly about their legal challenge in June, saying they felt "unsafe" in the situation, and that they had been "intimidated and threatened" by the hospital's HR department. 

The legal action began after 26 nurses wrote to County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust raising their concerns in March.

Now the nurses have set up a new union - the Darlington Nurses Union (DNU) - to help in their battle.

Some members of the group, from Darlington Memorial Hospital's Day Surgery unit, have now spoken out again about the extreme stress and "sleepless nights" they have endured because of their legal action.

Bethany Hutchinson, 35, described how she had been "on the sick" for two months with stress but is now back at work.

(Image: Asadour Guzelian) She said: "It’s about a policy change. I want it to focus on men who will use this, and abuse this policy.

"It’s not about an individual. It’s the policy that’s wrong.

"I don’t want it on my head. I don’t want to wake up one day and see that somebody’s accessed the changing room and somebody has been abused, violated, raped, whatever.

"I don’t want to be that person who goes ‘I could have done something’."

Fellow nurse Annice Grundy, 55, who came to nursing as a second career after 10 years working as a retail manager for Laura Ashley, echoed the stress and the negative impact it was having on her.

She said she had been off work for the past month with facial neuralgia, an electric shock-like feeling through the jaw.

Ms Grundy believes this was triggered by the stress of what has been happening. 

One of the nurses who has experienced sexual abuse in the past has had panic attacks and been in tears before starting work in the hospital wards.

The nurses were recently given temporary new changing rooms which they described as "dehumanising" and "humiliating".

(Image: Christian Concern) Nurses choosing to change in this room had to leave their belongings in piles on the floor, which they claim could cause an infection and security risk.

The room opens straight onto a busy ward corridor and is opposite a patient-side room.

The door has a key press lock, but whenever the door is opened it exposes anyone already getting changed inside and there is  zero privacy, they say.

Lockers have only been provided in the last few weeks, but there are not enough for all the women wanting to use the room, and the space is limited, according to the nurses.

(Image: Christian Concern)

Their new union, the Darlington Nurses Union (DNU), is believed to be the first of its kind taking a firm "gender critical" stance.

They have outlined their three founding principles:

  1. Equality and respect for all workers regardless of their protected characteristics (including both gender reassignment and biological sex).
  2. Securing and defending workers’ rights, dignity and decency at the workplace (including in particular access to safe single-sex areas for changing and hygiene, and protecting women from inappropriate exposure to members of the opposite biological sex).
  3. The right to raise concerns about any genuine workplace issues without fear of retribution, and to have such concerns addressed promptly, constructively and reasonably.

The DNU has written to the management of Darlington Memorial Hospital asking to be recognised as representing the interests of the nurses in all negotiations with management over the issue of a single-sex changing room for women.

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The Northern Echo has approached County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust for a response but they did not respond at the time of publication.

A trust spokesperson previously said: “We are sorry to hear this feedback.

"The Trust is working with the clinical teams and within the space available to provide additional alternative arrangements.

"These include a private, lockable changing room and an office which has been converted into a locker room for the storage of belongings.”

Phoenix Trans, a support group for transgender individuals in Darlington, previously said they are worried that they may face prejudice whilst being treated at the NHS, or that the case could stir up violent hatred in the North East.