Mick Hartley

Remember the Darlington Nurses? This ridiculous case rumbles on and on and on:

NHS nurses who complained about sharing the same changing room as their transgender colleague could face a misconduct probe.

Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy and Tracey Hooper, who all work at the Darlington Memorial Hospital, could be dragged through a disciplinary process after speaking publicly about being forced to undress in front of Rose Henderson, who was born male.

Rose Henderson identifies as female but has not undergone any physical or hormonal transition.

The nurses have filed a legal case suing their employer, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, for sexual harassment and discrimination.

They claimed they were told to “broaden their mindset”, “be more inclusive” and undergo “re-education” when they repeatedly raised concerns with NHS managers.

Their high-profile employment tribunal will be heard later this month. But the nurses now face professional misconduct investigations after four complaints were made by members of the public to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

It’s like Dickens’ Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce. The punishment, as they say, is in the process.

NMC cases can take years to be resolved, with the professionals involved experiencing the threat and stress of being disciplined or even losing their careers.

The case has prompted Claire Coutinho, the shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, to intervene.

She criticised the latest development, saying: “It is beyond belief that these four remarkable nurses may now be dragged through another vexatious disciplinary process simply because they stood up against radical transgender ideology in the NHS and defended their legal right to single-sex spaces.

“Our institutions have been captured by an ideology that wants to pretend that biological sex isn’t real and puts the feelings of transgender women above the rights of women to get changed in dignity, privacy, and safety.

“The Government needs to get a grip and intervene to make sure the Darlington nurses and Jennifer Melle are not punished for believing that women are women.”

Ms Melle is a nurse in London who has been suspended after calling a transgender patient “Mr”.

Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “It’s quite something that these nurses are being disciplined for believing in biology; that men are men and women are women.”

Well yes. And this is the NHS, where – you’d have hoped – biology matters.