Six NHS staff a week face sex abuse claims
Experts say more must be done to protect vulnerable as service experiences its own ‘Me Too’ movement
‘[Patients have been] subjected to terrible abuse from those who betray their positions of trust in the worst imaginable way’
‘Sexual misconduct has persisted at a consistent rate. More concerns are being raised in areas dominated by males’
SIX NHS workers are typically reported every week in England for sexually harassing a patient or colleague, The Sunday Telegraph has discovered.
Nearly a fifth of English trusts have recorded a rise in reports of sexual harassment since 2017, while millions have been spent by the NHS on legal claims specific to sexual abuse over the same time period, data shows.
Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, described the findings as “worrying” and urged NHS leaders to take “robust action in response to any such incidents in their organisation”.
Patient Safety Learning, a charity dedicated to improving patient experiences, said the Telegraph’s “deeply troubling” revelations demonstrated an abuse of the “significant power imbalance” that exists between vulnerable patients and their care providers.
“Healthcare professionals need to recognise the power they hold over patients,” said Helen Hughes, the charity’s chief executive.
A total of 16,082 reports of sexual harassment have been made against doctors and nurses, patients, and ancillary staff over the past five years – equivalent to 8.8 a day.
The data, acquired via Freedom of Information legislation, are specific to 98 out of 184 trusts in England. Further analysis shows at least 807 staff members have been accused of sexually harassing a colleague or patient across the 98 trusts between 2017 and 2022, and 45 have been found guilty.
When extrapolated to all 184 trusts, this suggests an estimated 1,607 NHS workers have been accused of sexual misconduct over the past five years — equivalent to six reports every week.
In one incident uncovered by this newspaper, a mentally incapacitated patient was raped by a healthcare worker and fell pregnant. The incident took place within the past five years at a major trust in England. The worker, in his 30s, was recently jailed for eight months after admitting sexual activity with a mentally disordered female.
Joe Matchett, a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who has secured settlements for survivors of abuse, said his firm continues to “represent a number of patients subjected to terrible abuse at the hands of hospital staff who have betrayed their position of trust in the worst imaginable way”.
Amid national efforts to clamp down on sexual misconduct, the figures obtained by The Telegraph suggest the NHS is experiencing its own “Me Too” movement, with a rising number of people who work for or use the service coming forward to report experiences of harassment.
Out of the 39 trusts that provided an annual breakdown of their data, 29 had recorded an increase in reports since 2017. Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which has recorded a 65 per cent rise in reports of sexual harassment, increasing from 81 in 2017-18 to 131 in 2021-22, said it had a “high level of reporting”, which “indicates a healthy safety culture”.
Although there is an acknowledgement progress is being made in encouraging survivors of sexual misconduct to come forward to report their experiences, senior health leaders admit more needs to be done.
The British Medical Association and Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) have both publicly acknowledged their shortcomings in tackling sexual misconduct and misogyny within their organisations, while a senior NHS official said “there’s more to do both to help people raise complaints and stop abuse in the first place”.
The source added: “The NHS staff survey suggests that sexual misconduct has persisted at a consistent rate in the last five years. The feedback we are getting, more concerns are being raised in male-dominated working environments … such as surgery.”
The data collected by The Telegraph also raise questions about the manner in which trusts handle complaints.
Information on investigative and disciplinary action was provided for just 1,973 out of the 16,082 reports of sexual misconduct. Many trusts did not provide the data requested as they said it would breach General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Figures also show that, since 2017, the NHS has spent £4.47million on legal costs specific to sexual abuse lawsuits filed by healthcare workers or patients.
Em Wilkinson-Brice, national director for people at NHS England, said: “The NHS must be a safe space for all staff and patients – we do not tolerate any form of sexual misconduct, violence, harassment or abuse in any workplace setting and are clear that all NHS Trusts and organisations must have robust measures in place to ensure immediate action is taken in any cases reported to them.”