One in 10 staff at hospitals in Lancashire were sexually harassed by patients or other members of the public last year, a new survey has revealed

Staff at hospitals in East Lancashire have experienced hundreds of sexual harassment incidents last year, according to the NHS Staff Survey.

For the first time the NHS Staff Survey – an annual poll of all NHS staff, with more than 600,000 responses nationally – asked workers if they had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour in the previous 12 months, which includes inappropriate language, sexual jokes or assault.

The survey showed 8.6 per cent of 4,374 respondents at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said they experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual behaviour by a member of the public in 2023.

Meanwhile, a further three per cent of 4,309 staff said a fellow colleague or other staff had behaved in an undesired sexual manner towards them on at least one occasion.

It means there were at least 503 incidents of sexual harassment towards staff at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust last year.

The survey also showed 10.4 per cent of 3,423 respondents at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust said they experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual behaviour by a member of the public in 2023.

Meanwhile, a further 2.7 per cent of 3,415 staff said a fellow colleague or other staff had behaved in an undesired sexual manner towards them on at least one occasion.

It means there were at least 450 incidents of sexual harassment towards staff at Lancashire and South Cumbria Trust last year.

The trust has said it has a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment and work is underway to formalise reporting such incidents.

Lancashire Telegraph: A stock image of a hospital corridor A stock image of a hospital corridor (Image: Supplied)

The figure at ELHT was similar to the number across England, where 8.7 per cent of staff said they experienced unwanted sexual behaviour from a member of the public, while this fell to 3.8 per cent for fellow staff members.

Matt Ireland, deputy director of people and culture at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Our staff survey results highlight some positive areas of improvement, along with themes we need to target in 2024 but we should never forget the vast amount of hard work that goes on each and every day to care for our patients and their families in the most challenging of circumstances.

"I remain beyond proud to be part of this organisation and everything we contribute to provide safe, personal and effective care.

"It is disheartening to read that a small number of our hard working colleagues have experienced some kind of sexual harassment or racism in the workplace.

"I want to be clear - there is no place for bullying or harassment at our Trust and thankfully the majority of our 10,000 colleagues have not had to face such incidents.

"We have really robust processes in place to hear about issues and concerns and ensure they are taken seriously.

"We will do everything possible to support our colleagues and are constantly looking for ways to improve.

"As part of this commitment to a zero tolerance approach to any unwanted or inappropriate behaviour, we have signed up to the NHS Sexual Safety Charter and pledged to achieve the North West BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) Assembly anti-racism charter by September." 

A spokesperson for Lancashire and South Cumbria Trust said: "Discrimination is something we are already tackling through our zero tolerance campaign which is now being expanded to include all forms of discrimination, bullying and harassment.

"We will continue to support our colleagues to recognise, report and address any instances that do occur.

"Work is also underway with developing a staff safety incident response plan to guide and improve our approach to responding to staff safety incidents and reducing harm which includes supporting colleagues with trauma-informed approaches and musculoskeletal injuries following incidents at work.

"A new question set for this year focused on unwanted sexual behaviour and unfortunately the results showed that both our substantive and bank colleagues experience this.

"This is going to be a priority for us as we implement the NHS’ Sexual Safety Charter, which places importance on the fact that we all have the right to be safe and feel supported at work.

"As part of the charter we are developing a sexual safety toolkit for all stakeholders to be clear on standards of behaviour."

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".

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.

Professor Lees added: "It is essential staff members feel empowered to report instances of misconduct without fear of reprisal or negative impact on their career progression."

Dr Emma Runswick, deputy chair of the British Medical Association council, said the survey portrays a "distressingly grim reality of healthcare professionals' experiences".

Dr Runswick praised the inclusion of unwanted sexual behaviour stats for the first time, but added the figures are "deeply troubling and utterly unacceptable, underscoring the urgent need to incorporate third-party harassment into any measures aimed at safeguarding staff from sexual harassment".

The figures showed ambulance staff experienced the highest rate of sexual harassment from both the public and other staff members last year.

Dr Navina Evans, chief workforce, training and education officer at NHS England, said: "It is very distressing that more than 58,000 NHS staff reported experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour from the public last year and such conduct should not be tolerated in the NHS.

"That is why the NHS launched its first ever sexual safety charter last year which provides clear commitments to improve reporting on unacceptable behaviour, as well as appointing more than 300 domestic abuse and sexual violence leads who will review and improve trust policies for reporting of sexual harassment."

The survey also revealed higher rates of bullying and discrimination against ethnic minorities than white staff, with 28.6 per cent reporting suffering harassment, abuse or bullying from the public, compared to 24.7 per cent of white workers.

However, at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, 24.2 per cent of ethnic minorities reported suffering harassment from a patient – broadly the same proportion as their white colleagues.

At Lancashire and South Cumbria Trust, 34.5 per cent of ethnic minorities reported suffering harassment from a patient – significantly more than their white colleagues.