Kemi Badenoch is said to be supporting a group of nurses who are campaigning for women to have their own toilets and changing rooms.
The Conservative party leader is backing the eight female workers at Darlington Memorial Hospital in County Durham in their demand for new NHS guidelines after they had little choice but to change in front of a transgender colleague.
During a meeting with two of the women, shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho assured them that the leader of the opposition backed their case, insisting that equality and diversity policies need to be revisited and revised across the NHS and workplaces in general.
According to Darlington nurse and president of the Darlington Nursing Union Bethany Hutchison, the group felt “very encouraged” by her comments.
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She said: “It was refreshing to be supported and backed rather than being told, like we have by our trust, that we need to ‘broaden our mindset’ be ‘more inclusive’ and ‘compromise’.”
Hutchison said the group’s guidance exposes how the trust’s policy on these issues was unlawful. She added: “Gender identity is not a protected characteristic and we should simply not be forced to get undressed in front of a man. We continue to be astonished at how our rights on this issue continue to be breached and discriminated against.
“We hope what we are pushing for provides a common sense and lawful way forward that protects women across the NHS. We believe it should set a precedent for all public services and workplaces in the UK.”
The meeting follows one with health secretary Wes Streeting last month, when five of the nurses met him after they had presented a petition signed by 48,000 people to 10 Downing Street calling for the government to do whatever is necessary to protect single-sex spaces.
According to the nurses, who have since formed the Darlington Nursing Union, they were forced to blow the whistle on the sexually active male, who identifies as a woman called Rose, following his “intimidating” behaviour.
They believe the trust did not protect them from sexual harassment and have since taken legal action against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.
The group says their employer’s policies allow any staff member to identify as the opposite sex and to enter single-sex spaces such as changing rooms, showers and toilets.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting the nurses’ case, said: “This was a highly constructive meeting, with clear views expressed that equality and diversity policies need to be entirely revisited in the NHS and in workplaces across the country.”
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