Seven nurses who took legal action against an NHS trust when it allowed a transgender woman to share a female changing room have been awarded £187,000 in damages.

In a landmark employment tribunal decision in January, a judge ruled NHS bosses had ‘violated the dignity’ of the nurses, who worked at Darlington Memorial Hospital, by making them share a changing area with a biological male.

The nurses also claimed they were discriminated against and harassed by managers for raising concerns.

The employment tribunal judge, Seamus Sweeney, agreed, ruling that forcing them to share a changing room with Rose Henderson, who identifies as a woman, created a ‘hostile, humiliating and degrading environment’ for them.

Now County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has agreed to pay £187,000 in damages to the nurses and has formally apologised to each of them in a letter.

The figure does not include coverage for the nurses’ legal costs, which will be decided at a later date, nor does it cover the £600,000 the NHS Trust spent defending the case.

As part of its apology, the Trust said: ‘We recognise that we have a responsibility to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive working environment for everyone and the tribunal’s findings make clear that we did not get this right for you, for which the Trust expresses its sincere apologies.’

The Trust has also agreed to provide separate changing facilities for biological men and biological women and has replaced its ‘Transitioning in the Workplace’ guidance which was designed to ‘create a safe and productive workplace environment for all employees which supports transgender and non-binary employees.’

It meant staff would be recognised as transgender ‘the moment a person informs us they are trans or intends to transition’ and could then use changing rooms which ‘match [their] gender identity.’

The nurses launched legal action in 2024 over Henderson’s use of the female changing rooms at the hospital.

Concerns were first raised in 2023. That August, nurse Karen Danson said she encountered Henderson for the first time.

Describing the moment, she said: ‘[Henderson] looked masculine, had facial hair, and there was nothing in [their] appearance to suggest [they were] anything other than a man.’

The following month, she encountered Henderson in the changing rooms wearing nursing scrubs on the upper half and tight boxer shorts with holes in them on the lower half, she said.

Ms Danson said the experience reignited childhood abuse trauma and left her ‘sobbing and shaking in a panic attack.’

‘I did not know Rose Henderson at this point, and I did not know that he identified as a woman,’ she later told the tribunal, which sat in Newcastle in October and November last year.

‘It just seemed like there was a man in our changing room who wanted to watch me undress.’

In his judgement, Judge Sweeney made clear that Henderson did not directly victimise or harass the women.

However he said that ‘in no way diminishes these very real and genuine perceptions of the claimants, all of whom were fearful of the risks at the very least, to their dignity, bodily integrity and privacy’.

Commenting on the award of damages and the Trust’s apology, nurse Bethany Hutchison, one of the seven claimants, said: ‘We have done this, not just for ourselves, but for our colleagues who were too afraid or unable to speak up, and for every woman and girl in the country.

‘We raised our concerns because we believed something was seriously wrong, not just for us, but for the protection of all women in the NHS.

‘Instead of being listened to, we were ignored, labelled, and subjected to pressure and intimidation.

‘This outcome is a vindication of our stand for dignity, privacy, and common sense. We hope it ensures that no woman is ever again made to feel unsafe in her workplace for speaking the truth.’

Despite the tribunal’s finding, four of the nurses – Ms Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy and Tracey Hooper – continue to face potential investigation for misconduct by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Referrals were made in October 2025 at the height of the case, alleging ‘transphobia’ and ‘hate crime’ after the nurses spoke publicly about their concerns.

Commenting on the payout, Steve Russell, chief executive of County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘We recognise that the approach taken should have been different, and we regret the impact this had on the colleagues involved. We have repeated our apology directly to those affected.’