An NHS trust has paid out £187,000 in damages after an employment tribunal found it harassed seven nurses by requiring them to share a changing room with a transgender woman.

Judges ruled County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust created a “hostile environment” for nurses who objected to Rose Henderson, who was born male and identifies as a woman, using the single-sex changing rooms.

One of the claimants, Bethany Hutchison, said the nurses raised their concerns to protect women but were instead subjected to “pressure and intimidation”.

The trust’s CEO Steve Russell said its approach should have been different and he regretted the “impact this has had on the colleagues involved”.

Hutchison, who is president of the Darlington Nursing Union, said the outcome was 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,” she said.

Since the judgment, the trust has worked with the nurses to reach a remedy agreement.

As part of the agreement, the trust acknowledged the tribunal’s findings and is writing to the nurses to offer a formal apology.

It said it would now ensure unisex facilities were available across its hospital sites and would continue to review its policies.

“Following the judgment, we issued updated guidance and developed unisex facilities to ensure that single sex facilities are used based on biological sex,” Russell said.

“Whilst this complies with the judgment we want to further improve changing facilities for all colleagues.”

Christian Concern, which supported the nurses during their legal challenge, said the £187,000 payout did not include legal costs, which are to be decided at a further hearing.

It was previously revealed the trust had spent £603,000 on its own legal costs during the case.

Follow BBC Tees on X,, external Facebook, external, Nextdoor and Instagram, external.