Labour and the NHS think being woke is more imporant than keeping nurses like me safe

For more than a year, my colleagues and I have been fighting for something so simple, so basic, that it should never have required a court case: the right for women to have safe, singlesex spaces at work.

Today, a tribunal has confirmed what we knew from the start, that what happened to us was unlawful, and that the NHS Trust failed in its duty to protect our dignity and our safety.

We never asked for special treatment. We asked only to be able to undress for work without a man being present.

Instead, we were told to "broaden our mindset," to "be inclusive," and to accept that a biological male could use the women's changing rooms simply because he said he was a woman.

When we raised safeguarding concerns, concerns no reasonable person could dismiss, we were the ones pushed aside, belittled, and forced into a makeshift "temporary" space that was unsafe and dehumanising.

This case was never about ideology for us. It was about truth, biology, fairness, and the basic protections the Equality Act was designed to uphold.

The tribunal's ruling affirms that women's rights cannot be overwritten by internal policies or political pressure. It affirms that our concerns were legitimate, and that the trust's treatment of us was discriminatory and unlawful.

But this judgment must also serve as a warning.

Across the NHS, there are countless women who feel they cannot speak, who fear being labelled or punished simply for wanting the privacy and safety they are entitled to.

The Government has still not published the lawful guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. NHS leadership continues to prioritise ideological policies over the real needs of frontline staff.

Our victory today is a step forward, not just for us, but for every woman in the NHS.

We hope it gives others the courage to speak, and we urge those in authority to finally listen. Women deserve better. And we will keep standing up until they get it.

Bethany Hutchison is a nurse at Darlington Memorial Hospital and President of the Darlington Nursing Union.