More than 80,000 reports of unwanted sexual behaviour towards NHS staff in 2023

There were more than 80,000 reports of NHS staff in England being sexually harassed by patients, their relatives, members of the public or colleagues while at work last year, according to a major survey.

It comes amid an improvement in the number of people who would recommend the NHS as a place to work, and would be happy if their friend or relative was treated by the service.

For the first time ever, the NHS Staff Survey for England 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.

Some 3.84%, or almost 26,000, also reported unwanted sexual behaviour from colleagues.

According to the survey, which is one of the largest of its kind in the world, reports of sexual harassment were more prevalent among ambulance staff, nursing staff and healthcare assistants.

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”.

She added that “there is absolutely no place in healthcare for these abhorrent behaviours”.

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.

“They also need to feel confident that reports will be believed. As an important first step, we have written to NHS Trusts that haven’t yet signed the NHS sexual safety in healthcare charter, encouraging them to do so as soon as possible.”

Elsewhere in the 2023 results, more than 60% of staff said they would recommend their organisation as a place to work, up from 57.42% in 2022 and a three-year high across all types of trust.

Almost 65% said they would be happy for a friend or relative to be treated in their workplace.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said these results indicate “encouraging signs that staff morale is improving” and reflects “the concerted efforts that leadership teams have been making in recent years to improve the experience of their people, and is also a reflection of the government’s resolution of painful disputes and its commitment to a long term workforce plan”.

The proportion of staff finding their work “emotionally exhausting” also dropped from 37.41% to 34.18%, while those feeling burnt out decreased from 33.97% to 30.38%.

Professor Em Wilkinson-Brice, director for staff experience and leadership development at NHS England, added: “It is really encouraging that the experience of NHS staff at work improved over the past year, even as they faced near record levels of pressure including the busiest summer recorded in A&E, as well as managing the disruption of industrial action.”

However, Nuffield Trust senior fellow Dr Billy Palmer said that while it was “good to see some indication of improving satisfaction among NHS staff”, he warned that “early signs of this rebound come from a low point”.

Ruth Thorlby, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said the results “show glimmers of hope in the levels of stress and exhaustion experienced by NHS staff after a difficult few years, but suggest that staff morale is still in a precarious state in the face of persistent pressures”.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive at The King’s Fund, also recognised “some positive improvements”, but said NHS staff “are feeling undervalued, stretched and unwell and there is still work to do to make health and care a more attractive career”.

Some 57.89% of staff said their workplace takes positive action when it comes to health and wellbeing, up from 56.58% in 2022.

More than half (51.86%) of those who had experienced bullying, harassment or abuse said the incident was reported by themselves or a colleague, which is a five-year high and up from 49.81% in the previous 12 months.

There was also a fall in those experiencing bullying, harassment and abuse, with 25.78% reporting at least one incident with patients, their relatives or other members of the public, down from 27.67% in 2022.

The number of staff reporting bullying from their managers fell from 11.10% to 10.17%, with the proportion reporting incidents involving other colleagues down from 18.72% to 18.09%.

However, there was increase in staff experiencing discrimination at work last year, with 8.48% reporting incidents involving patients, their relatives or the public, up from 8.29%.

Some 9.07% said they experienced discrimination from their manager, team leader or colleagues, up from 9.0% in 2022.

Ms Woolnough added: “For all the heated debate about equality and diversity initiatives in the NHS, the results of this survey speak for themselves.

“There is a worsening trend of staff experiencing discrimination at the hands of colleagues and the public. Black, Asian and ethnic minority staff consistently report higher rates of discrimination than their white colleagues.”

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive at NHS Providers, added: “More organisations have signed up to NHSE’s sexual safety charter, but much more needs to be done to address this issue and keep staff safe.

“It’s also deeply distressing that frontline staff have faced record levels of discrimination from the public. All staff should be treated with dignity and respect.”

The 2023 survey was unable to report instances of physical violence against staff from patients, their relatives, members of the public, managers or colleagues due to “an issue with the quality of data”.

Patricia Marquis, director for England at the Royal College of Nursing, branded this “deeply concerning” as “we know NHS workers are repeatedly being attacked at work”.

She added: “The findings provide an urgent reality check for Government ministers and lay bare the impact of workforce shortages.”

Also for the first time in 2023, workers were asked how often they can eat well while on a shift.

Some 53.75% said they can “often” or “always” eat nutritious and affordable food while they are working, however 13.02% said they “rarely” do this, while 5.08% said they are “never” able to.