"It's very distressing" - Data shows number of sexual harassment incidents in NHS Blackpool Teaching Hospitals

Staff at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Trust experienced hundreds of sexual harassment incidents last year, new survey figures suggest.

For the first time ever, an annual poll of all NHS staff called the NHS Staff Survey asked more than 600,000 respondents if they had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour in the last year.

There were 4,230 responses from the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to which 6.9% said they had experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment by a member of the public in 2023.

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Meanwhile, a further 3.4% of 4,212 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 437 incidents of sexual harassment towards staff at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Trust last year.

Speaking on gathering data on sexual harassment, Professor Vivien Lees, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “It 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 said: "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 said: “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".

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

Across England, 8.7% of staff said they experienced unwanted sexual behaviour from a member of the public, while this fell to 3.8% for fellow staff members.

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."