Andrew Cull

Story in the Express express.co.uk/news/uk/226004…

🚨 Breaking: After a three year battle, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has finally changed its policy on single-sex spaces for staff to bring it in line with the law. It is amazing how simple it is! Now all NHS Trusts must urgently follow suit. Bethany Hutchison, President of the Darlington Nursing Union and lead claimant in the case, said: “This short sentence in a policy has taken women three years of fear, humiliation and extraordinary personal sacrifice to secure. “We were nurses asking for the most basic protection: somewhere private and safe to undress at work, away from members of the opposite sex. Instead of listening, the Trust told us to compromise, broaden our mindset and be more inclusive. We were forced out of our own changing room, placed in inadequate facilities, threatened with disciplinary action and made to fear for our jobs and professional careers. “Vulnerable colleagues were put under intolerable pressure. International nurses feared losing their visas. Women who had experienced domestic abuse were left distressed and afraid. Four of us were reported to our professional regulator simply for speaking publicly about what was happening. “Throughout it all, the Trust defended a policy it had been warned was unlawful. Even after the Supreme Court clarified the law, it refused to change course. It took a full tribunal judgment, an apology, damages and an enormous bill before the Trust finally wrote biological reality into its policy. “We welcome this change because it will protect women across the Trust, but it should never have required a three-year legal battle. No nurse should ever again be treated as we were for asking for dignity, privacy and safety.” See more breaking in the Daily Express and with @CConcern and the Christian Legal Centre who have supported the nurses from the beginning. express.co.uk/news/uk/226004… christianconcern.com/ccpress…