More than 20,000 allegations of sexual violence and misconduct by patients against hospital staff were recorded by 212 NHS trusts in England between 2017 and 2022, according to freedom of information requests by the Guardian and the British Medical Journal. The cases include rape, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, and sexualised remarks, but experts warn the true figure is likely much higher as many staff are deterred from reporting abuse.
Deeba Syed, a senior legal officer at Rights of Women, said women are often expected to continue caring for abusive patients without adequate safeguards, and are sometimes pressured into not raising formal grievances. Instead, they are transferred to different departments, which victims argue punishes them and endangers others.
One junior doctor in south-east England, who asked to remain anonymous, said she had faced sexual comments from patients since she was a student. She recalled an incident where a patient began licking his lips and rubbing himself while she examined his eyes, leaving her terrified. She said she did not feel able to report the harassment due to intimidating consultants.
The investigation found that trusts recorded 35,606 sexual safety incidents overall, including abuse by staff, patients, and visitors. While the majority were patient-on-staff cases, nearly 7,500 were patient-on-patient, and over 3,000 involved staff abusing patients.
Simon Fleming, an orthopaedic surgeon and co-author of a report on sexual assault in surgery, said the NHS must stop permitting such behaviour. However, some staff have received strong support. Paramedic Charlotte Miller reported being groped by a patient in London in 2022, and her employer provided immediate assistance, including police involvement and ongoing welfare checks. The patient was jailed for nine months.
