A senior NHS psychiatrist is taking legal action against Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation Trust after a transgender patient, described as a biological man with a beard, was allowed onto a female psychiatric ward and reportedly exposed himself to other patients. The doctor, referred to as Dr A, alleges trust managers dismissed safeguarding concerns and maintained policies that breach the law following the Supreme Court's April 2025 ruling that "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. She argues vulnerable women, including survivors of sexual violence, are being placed at risk on wards that are supposedly single-sex.

Dr A says she learned of the incident at a consultants' meeting, where a male colleague described a bearded patient with male genitalia exposing himself to female patients, but felt unable to act because of trust policy. The patient was reportedly moved to a male ward after complaints, then returned to the female ward. After lodging a formal grievance in June 2025, which was partially upheld, Dr A claims the trust has still not amended its "Delivering Single Sex Accommodation" policy, and she has now filed a tribunal claim with Acas. The Christian Legal Centre's Andrea Williams said the case highlights the consequences of an NHS trust "losing sight of biological reality".