Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust has said it is reviewing its policies after a doctor began legal action over what she described as an “egregious safeguarding failure” when a biologically male patient was placed on a women’s ward and “exposed himself”.
Doctor brands trust response “outrageous”
The consultant psychiatrist, who wishes to remain anonymous and is referred to as Dr A, said she believed the trust’s response issued this week confirmed it would continue to operate wards on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex.
Dr A said she felt her concerns had been “absolutely dismissed” when she queried why the trust had not changed its policies after the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling. That ruling said the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
EHRC guidance and trust statement
Subsequent guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which came into force at the beginning of August, confirmed single-sex services must be on the basis of biological sex.
Dr A told how a colleague said during a meeting she attended that a patient who “had male genitalia” had “exposed himself to the women”. She said three women patients complained, but her colleague had suggested “there’s nothing we can do, that the patient has a right to be here”.
Dr A, who has submitted a tribunal claim against the trust and is being represented by the Christian Legal Centre, described this as an “egregious safeguarding failure”.
Following reports about the case in the media, a trust spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all our patients and colleagues where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and differing lawful views and beliefs are considered appropriately.
“We are reviewing our policies in light of the updated EHRC Code of Practice and are ensuring our staff have the guidance they need to implement these consistently.”
Doctor’s reaction and next steps
Dr A described the trust’s public response as “outrageous”. She told the Press Association: “I am absolutely livid that that is what they said. That is appalling. That is astonishingly bad. They are saying they will continue to admit biological men onto the women’s wards. They are breaking the law, and they know it.”
Dr A said she did not feel trans women should necessarily be placed on male wards but that they could be considered as a “special group” who “require special considerations and adjustments, and that adjustment might be a third space”.
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper last month said wider NHS England guidance for all trusts on single-sex spaces was expected “shortly”.
