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Abstract
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NHS trusts recorded more than 35 000 cases of rape, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, and abusive remarks between 2017 and 2022, but only one in 10 trusts has a dedicated policy to manage the problem. Ingrid Torjesen and Adele Waters investigate
Medical colleges and healthcare unions have urged the government to take immediate action against sexual assault and harassment in the NHS after an investigation by The BMJ and the Guardian found that trusts are failing to protect staff and patients.1
The BMJ and the Guardian sent freedom of information (FOI) requests to every single hospital trust and police force in the country for data on how many sexual safety incidents, a term which covers a spectrum of behaviours from abusive remarks to rape, they had recorded on NHS premises, as well as hospital trusts’ policies on how to manage and prevent the problem.
The responses show that more than 35 000 sexual safety incidents were reported to 212 NHS trusts in England between 2017 and 2022 and that less than one in 10 trusts has a dedicated policy to deal with sexual assault and harassment. Despite staff being the group predominantly affected (in 62% of incidents), trusts are no longer obliged to report abuse of staff to a central database.
The BMA told The BMJ that it called on the government to “urgently produce a plan of action to protect our colleagues,” with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and others going further and telling us that they are calling for a full independent inquiry into the epidemic of sexual assault in the NHS.
The Hospital Doctors Union (HCSA), GMB union, the Society of Radiographers, the British Dietetic Association, and the Liberal Democrats all told The BMJ that they are also calling for an urgent independent inquiry. HCSA said that employers have “no real grasp of this complex issue” and that their approach to dealing with it “only makes the situation worse, driving staff into ill health or out of the service.” ...
Language: en |