Sexual misconduct a ‘problem right across NHS’ as whistleblowing site is launched
NHS staff working in England will be able to anonymously report their colleagues for sexual harassment from today, as health bosses warned inappropriate behaviour “will not be tolerated”.
The health service also plans to bring in more pastoral support, and even special leave, for people who have suffered sexual misconduct at work.
It comes after a Sky News investigation heard harassment and assault is “rife” in the ambulance service.
Many dozens of paramedics have now spoken up about a culture in which being groped or being the victim of inappropriate comments and jokes is commonplace.
Some women even claimed to have been threatened with rape, or pressured into sexual acts to keep their jobs, while one female paramedic tried to take her own life after being locked in the back of an ambulance and sexually assaulted by a colleague.
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Female paramedics ‘sexually hounded’
Whistleblowers also claimed when they raised concerns they were punished or ostracised.
But NHS England has warned that sexual misconduct is “a problem right across the health service”, and other workforces have come under scrutiny.
In a survey last September almost a third of female surgeons who responded said they had been sexually assaulted by a colleague, and two thirds claimed to have been the target of sexual harassment.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard called this behaviour “unacceptable” and said that from today an online reporting tool will allow staff to report abuse anonymously. The reports will then be assessed by HR teams and investigated.
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The NHS also plans to bring in pastoral support for people who have experienced sexual abuse, with special leave available if needed. Staff are also being urged to complete new training on what to do if they see or are told about sexual misconduct.
Amanda Pritchard added: “We must do everything in our power to ensure our staff feel able to speak up, and have absolute confidence that they will be given the support they need when they do.
“There is absolutely no place for sexual misconduct or abuse of any kind within the NHS – a place where staff come to work every day to provide compassionate care and support to others, and we know that women are more likely to be affected – this is unacceptable, and we must not tolerate it.”
The NHS said the new policy covers all sexual misconduct at work – whether in an NHS setting, a virtual environment or elsewhere.
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It can include many things from sexual assault or rape to sexual comments or jokes, showing sexual pictures and staring at someone in a sexual way.
In this year’s NHS Staff Survey, almost 26,000 staff said they’d been the victim of assault, touching, sexualised or inappropriate conversation or jokes from their colleagues.
Dr Chelcie Jerwick is the co-founder of Surviving in Scrubs, a campaign group that highlights sexual harassment in the NHS. She believes many more cases go unreported but that the anonymous system is a great way to give people options to come forward.
“I think that there is definitely a culture of tolerance of these behaviours and attitudes within the NHS.
“I know from my own personal experience of trying to raise complaints that it can be really difficult, not only in order to kind of speak up, but also the logistics of how you raise a complaint. Is that to your consultant, your line manager? Do you go directly to HR?
“It’s really hard to navigate and it can be really scary. So, it’s really great to see NHS England providing this anonymous way of reporting now.”
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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