Darlington nurse Karen Danson has accused the NHS Trust of "abandoning" its female workers after their landmark legal victory against the hospital.The Darlington Nurses won their legal case against their employer after raising concerns about a biological male, who identifies as a woman named Rose, being allowed to use the female staff changing room.FULL STORY HERE.
00:00Well, it's completely, good evening, sorry. It's completely unacceptable to have a biological man in a female only changing room. And from a personal, from my personal point of view, I was abused as a child. And having a man in our changing room is a particular trigger for me. And the trust just did nothing about it. So we had to take things further.
00:23So you complained to the trust about this, you and your colleagues got together and they just ignored you. They didn't really care about it.
00:31Not at all. They didn't care at all. We wrote a letter of concern, 26 of us signed it. And the response was that we needed to be re-educated. We needed to broaden our mindset. And they backed this trans person 150%.
00:47So Karen, this person who identifies as Rose, on one occasion, they were staring at you or your colleagues' breasts in this changing room and asking, are you getting changed yet?
00:58Another of your colleagues had a panic attack. I don't think it was you. Is that accurate?
01:02That was me.
01:03You had the panic attack?
01:04I was in the changing room and within five minutes, he'd asked me three times, are you not getting changed yet?
01:11And what was he doing?
01:13He was half dressed in the changing room, just staring at me, wanting to know why I wasn't getting changed.
01:18What a disgrace. How can anybody in positions of power allow this to happen? What's your feeling now towards the trust? I assume you still work for them.
01:26I do, yes. I just feel totally abandoned by them.
01:29You know, we went with all our concerns and they weren't interested.
01:35We never thought that we'd have to take legal action to get what is our right, to have a female-only space, to get changed, a safe space that respects our privacy and dignity.
01:46And what do you make of people who call you a turf or a bigot for complaining about this kind of thing? Because that's what they say.
01:53They do, yes. But there's been loads of positivity out there for us.
01:57There's loads of positive comments. And I'm not a bigot. I'm not a turf. I'm just fighting for what's right.
02:05I want to feel safe when I get changed.
02:07Because, like, what's happened to me could have happened to other people.
02:11And I want to be a voice for them to stand up and come forward and say this is not acceptable.
02:16Karen, you're a brave lady, you and your colleagues.
02:18And I'm glad. Actually, it was Wes Streeting who intervened in the end, one of the more competent Labour ministers, who told Darlington Hospital, sort this out.
02:25You know, pull your finger out. Don't be so ridiculous.
02:28And he got involved and he sorted it out for you.
02:30What's your thoughts, finally, on Mr Streeting?
02:32Well, he offered his support to us about a year ago.
02:37And I met him back in October last year and I told him a bit about my past and how I suffer from PTSD.
02:43And he promised then that he would do something about it.
02:46And it's only now, as the Supreme Court judgment has provided clarity,
02:52that he's sent someone from NHS England to the hospital to get things moving.
02:57But there was no time frame.
02:59He said he'll do it quickly, but that's it.
03:02Karen, thank you so much for speaking about this tonight.
03:04And again, congratulations to you.
03:06I really do praise your courage, your bravery, your tenacity for getting this sorted out.
03:10So well done to you and send my regards and indeed from the channel to your colleagues as well.
