The NHS has paid millions of pounds in damages and legal costs for sexual assaults since 2018, new figures show.
The health service has paid £2,174,658 in damages, as well as £1.5m in legal costs from plaintiffs.
It also spent £338,194 on its own legal costs, bringing the total bill to more than £4 million. The times reports.
The revelation comes weeks after Health Secretary Steve Barclay vowed to end sexual assaults in hospitals after a Mail investigation found 6,500 rapes and assaults had taken place in three years.
Fewer than one in five NHS Trusts provide training to prevent sexual harassment, a survey found.
The health service has paid £2,174,658 in damages, as well as £1.5m in legal costs from plaintiffs, in addition to more than £300,000 in its own legal costs (file image)
Allegations of rape, inappropriate touching and comments are among incidents reported since 2018 (file image)
Data obtained under the Freedom Of Information Act has shown that since 2018 there have been 1,571 reports of sexual misconduct by staff and patients at 167 NHS Trusts in England and Wales.
Allegations of rape, inappropriate touching and remarks are among the reported incidents, with the majority of the alleged perpetrators being men and the victims being women.
Surviving In Scrubs, a campaign group supporting NHS staff who have experienced sexual harassment, said the findings were ‘unsurprising’.
“Trusts seem to keep their reputation so high that they cover up the problems of sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment and assault. More needs to be done to protect and support survivors of this behavior.”
Jemima Olchawski, CEO of the Fawcett Society, a women’s rights charity, said women were ‘at their most vulnerable’ on NHS staff.
Between January 2019 and October 2022, at least 2,088 rapes and 4,451 assaults were reported in hospitals [Stock photo]
Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman, said all patients should feel safe, but these ‘shocking findings show that this is simply not the case’.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay met with NHS chiefs in April after it was revealed that at least 2,088 rapes and 4,451 assaults had been reported in hospitals between January 2019 and October 2022 – a rate of 33 per week.
Mr Barclay has asked the NHS to investigate how to improve the quality of data on sexual incidents and to work with police to ensure that the right action is taken.
Artificial intelligence can potentially be used to better identify trends.
He expects employers to be ‘pro-active’ and improve the culture in NHS environments.
But a recent study revealed that only five Trusts in 213 respondents in England had staff training directly tailored to address sexual harassment in some form.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge analyzed data from freedom of information requests (FOI) sent to 213 NHS Trusts in England.
Of the 199 who responded, only 35 said they offered “active bystander” training, which encourages individuals to recognize and respond to bad behavior.
A number of NHS Trusts have admitted to issuing NDAs or confidentiality agreements in resolving sexual harassment cases between 2017 and 2021.
While the use of the gag orders is prohibited for whistleblowers, non-disclosure agreements can still be used in other situations.
Professor Julia Macfarlane, from campaign group Can’t Buy My Silence, said there was ‘no justification’ for covering up sexual misconduct in the NHS.
“Unfortunately, this information is consistent with the widespread use of non-disclosure agreements across all of our workplaces and institutions. It has to stop.’
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘Sexual misconduct, violence, harassment and abuse are criminal offences. All NHS organizations should take robust measures to ensure immediate action is taken on cases reported to them.’
In November 2022, Dr Mohammad Nazeer was struck from the medical register after being caught sexually assaulting a woman on camera.
Dr. Mohammad Nazeer was found to have restrained the woman (Mrs B) – who complained of treating her like a ‘sex slave’ – and forced himself on her despite her screams for him to get rid of her.
The ER specialist also encouraged his victim to “sell your body on the street,” bit her lips until they bled, “forcefully” grabbed her hair and pushed his finger into her nostril.
However, he was never charged with any criminal offence, as Miss B retracted her police statement in October 2018.
In 2013, the General Medical Council (GMC) updated its guidelines for maintaining professional relationships between staff, including physicians, and patients.
In the final version of the document, frailty was more strongly defined and stated: ‘Some patients are likely to be more frail than others because of their illness, disability or frailty, or because of their current circumstances.’
Colin Melville, medical director and director of education and standards at the GMC said there was “no place” for sexual misconduct in the medical profession.
“There is no place for sexual misconduct and assault of any kind in the medical field, and we absolutely condemn all forms of sexual harassment, misogyny and sexism in the healthcare industry.”