Following a major investigation undertaken by The Independent and Sky News, it has today been revealed that there have been almost 20,000 reports of sexual assaults on NHS psychiatric inpatients over the last five years.
The investigation found that NHS Trusts are failing to report the majority of incidents to the police and are not meeting safeguarding standards designed to protect the most vulnerable patients from sexual harm.
The investigation found:
- At least 19,899 sexual incidents were reported across more than 30 NHS trusts between 2019 and November 2023 – including staff assaults on patients and patients assaulting other patients.
- The figures suggest that just 982 – less than 5% – of sexual incidents reported to hospitals were referred to the police over the same period.
- 800 allegations of rape and serious assaults on women
- Mixed sex wards, despite being banned a decade ago, are still in use across NHS mental health care with more than 500 reports of sexual assault since 2019.
- Just six out of 50 hospitals were able to prove they were meeting NHS standards aimed at protecting patients from sexual harm.
Comment
It is shocking that these assaults can take place on patients at their most vulnerable and in a place where they are supposed to be safe. It is even more shocking that less than 5% of the sexual incidents reported to hospitals were reported to the police.
There are now calls for an inquiry into sexual safety in mental health wards and rightly so. The cause of many mental illnesses is sexual trauma. For these people to be re-traumatised in a place where they are supposed to be safe and to be receiving the treatment they need, is a national scandal.
How can we help?
Dianne Collins is a Senior Associate in our expert Personal Injury team, which has been ranked in Tier One by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500, and Commended in The Times Best Law Firms 2024. Dianne specialises in accident claims, including child abuse claims, criminal injury compensation claims and public liability claims.
For more information on the subject above, please contact Dianne or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
Contact us