Tens of thousands of NHS staff report sexual harassment in shocking new survey

The latest NHS Staff Survey for England included questions on unwanted sexual behaviour for the first time.

There were more than 80,000 reports of NHS staff being sexually harassed while at work last year, according to a major survey.

For the first time ever, the NHS Staff Survey for England asked workers if they had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour from patients, members of the public or colleagues in the previous 12 months.

Of the 675,140 NHS staff that responded, some 8.67 per cent, or more than 58,000, said they had experienced sexual harassment from patients, their relatives or other members of the public in 2023.

Some 3.84 per cent, or almost 26,000, also reported unwanted sexual behaviour from colleagues, such as inappropriate language, sexual jokes or assault.

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It comes after The Independent revealed the shocking scale of sexual misconduct within NHS mental health services where there have been almost 20,000 reports of sexual assault and harassment since 2019.

Last month, this publication also revealed the shocking story of a nurse, Michelle Russell, who has had to fight for eight years against regulators and her trust after she made allegations of sexual harassment against a male colleague.

According to the survey, which is one of the largest of its kind in the world, reports of sexual harassment were more prevalent among ambulance staff, nursing assistants and healthcare assistants.

It is essential that staff members feel empowered to report instances of misconduct without fear of reprisal or negative impact on their career progression

Prof Vivien Lees

More than 22 per cent of ambulance staff reported experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour from patients or the public and almost nine per cent from a colleague or other staff member.

Within mental health services, 9.45 per cent of staff reported unwanted behaviour from patients or the public and 2.99 per cent from colleagues.

Professor Vivien Lees, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said gathering data on sexual harassment “is an important step as it gives us a better picture of the scale of the problem”.

She added that “there is absolutely no place in healthcare for these abhorrent behaviours”.

NHS England launched its sexual safety charter in September, which commits to enforcing a zero-tolerance approach to any unwanted sexual behaviours in the workplace.

“It is essential that staff members feel empowered to report instances of misconduct without fear of reprisal or negative impact on their career progression,” Prof Lees said.

“They also need to feel confident that reports will be believed. As an important first step, we have written to NHS Trusts that haven’t yet signed the NHS sexual safety in healthcare charter, encouraging them to do so as soon as possible.”

Elsewhere in the 2023 results, more than 60 per cent of staff said they would recommend their organisation as a place to work, up from 57.42 per cent in 2022 and a three-year high across all types of trust.

The NHS Staff Survey for England is one of the largest workforce surveys in the world (Jeff Moore/PA) (PA Wire)

Almost 65 per cent said they would be happy for a friend or relative to be treated in their workplace.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said these results indicate “encouraging signs that staff morale is improving” and reflects “the concerted efforts that leadership teams have been making in recent years to improve the experience of their people, and is also a reflection of the government’s resolution of painful disputes and its commitment to a long term workforce plan”.

The proportion of staff finding their work “emotionally exhausting” also dropped from 37.41 per cent to 34.18%, while those feeling burnt out decreased from 33.97 per cent to 30.38 per cent.

Some 15.17 per cent said they would leave their position as soon as they found another job, the lowest proportion since 2020 and down from 17.37 per cent in 2022.

Professor Em Wilkinson-Brice, director for staff experience and leadership development at NHS England, added: “It is really encouraging that the experience of NHS staff at work improved over the past year, even as they faced near record levels of pressure including the busiest summer recorded in A&E, as well as managing the disruption of industrial action.”

For all the heated debate about equality and diversity initiatives in the NHS, the results of this survey speak for themselves

Sarah Woolnough, The King's Fund

However, Nuffield Trust senior fellow Dr Billy Palmer said that while it was “good to see some indication of improving satisfaction among NHS staff”, he warned that “early signs of this rebound come from a low point”.

Ruth Thorlby, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said the results “show glimmers of hope in the levels of stress and exhaustion experienced by NHS staff after a difficult few years, but suggest that staff morale is still in a precarious state in the face of persistent pressures”.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive at The King’s Fund, also recognised “some positive improvements”, but said NHS staff “are feeling undervalued, stretched and unwell and there is still work to do to make health and care a more attractive career”.

Some 57.89 per cent of staff said their workplace takes positive action when it comes to health and wellbeing, up from 56.58 per cent in 2022.

More than half (51.86 per cent) of those who had experienced bullying, harassment or abuse said the incident was reported by themselves or a colleague, which is a five-year high and up from 49.81 per cent in the previous 12 months.

There was also a fall in those experiencing bullying, harassment and abuse, with 25.78 per cent reporting at least one incident with patients, their relatives or other members of the public, down from 27.67 per cent in 2022.

The number of staff reporting bullying from their managers fell from 11.10 per cent to 10.17 per cent, with the proportion reporting incidents involving other colleagues down from 18.72 per cent to 18.09 per cent.

However, there was increase in staff experiencing discrimination at work last year, with 8.48 per cent reporting incidents involving patients, their relatives or the public, up from 8.29 per cent.

Some 9.07 per cent said they experienced discrimination from their manager, team leader or colleagues, up from 9.0 per cent in 2022.

Ms Woolnough added: “For all the heated debate about equality and diversity initiatives in the NHS, the results of this survey speak for themselves.

“There is a worsening trend of staff experiencing discrimination at the hands of colleagues and the public. Black, Asian and ethnic minority staff consistently report higher rates of discrimination than their white colleagues.”

The 2023 survey was unable to report instances of physical violence against staff from patients, their relatives, members of the public, managers or colleagues due to “an issue with the quality of data”.