Staff at Wigan's hospitals experienced hundreds of sexual harassment incidents last year

For the first time ever, the NHS Staff Survey – an annual poll of all NHS staff, with more than 600,000 responses – 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 5.5 per cent of 2,648 respondents employed by Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) said they experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual behaviour by a member of the public in 2023.

Meanwhile, a further 3.2 per cent of 2,635 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 230 incidents of sexual harassment towards WWL staff last year.

Across England, 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.

Prof 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".

A WWL spokesperson said: “WWL welcomes the inclusion of the question surrounding sexual harassment in the National Staff Survey for the first time and it is disheartening to hear that a number of our staff have had to experience such incidences.

"The Trust has a zero-tolerance approach to any unwanted, inappropriate and/or harmful sexual behaviours within the workplace and support is available to any staff member should this occur.

"As a further pledge to this approach, WWL has implemented the NHS Sexual Safety Charter and is committed to enforcing its core principles and actions across the trust.”

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 people.

It suggests an ethnic minority member of staff is 16 per cent more likely to experience bullying from a member of the public than a white staff member.

At WWL, 22.3 per cent of ethnic minorities reported suffering harassment from a patient – 17 per cent more than their white colleagues.

But the trust is pleased to have achieved yet another year of improvement in the results of the 2023 national NHS staff survey, published this week.

Providing an opportunity for staff to be heard, the national survey helps to shape organisational culture and share how it feels to work at WWL. This year, the trust achieved its highest ever response rate of 37 per cent - 2,664 members of staff.

Measuring against, 122 other Acute and Community Trusts across the NHS, WWL’s survey showed:

Scores indicating levels of morale are significantly better than the sector;

Its score for staff recommending WWL as a place to work is significantly higher than the sector; and

There have been improvements in the feedback regarding the appraisal process, which bosses say they will continue to develop this to ensure appraisals are inspiring, motivating and support career development.

Throughout all Greater Manchester Acute and Acute and Community Trusts, WWL has ranked first in the region in the “recommend as a place to work”, “morale” and “flexible working” categories.

WWL chief executive Mary Fleming said: “Feedback from the staff survey tells us where we are getting it right and what matters to our colleagues. We are delighted to see WWL ranked above average in most areas of the NHS People Promise. It’s important that staff feel recognised for the work they do and that they feel part of a team.

“We must not forget that we can always do better, and as well as celebrating these areas of amazing achievement, we must also focus on the key areas of development for the year ahead and beyond.

“Over the coming months we will continue with our programme of staff engagement activity, to understand more about further changes we can make to improve the experience of all those working at the Trust, including inviting our staff to get involved in developing our shared Trust values.

“I would like to express my thanks to each member of staff who took the time to complete the survey and assure our colleagues that we will keep listening to ensure WWL is a great place to receive healthcare, work and learn.”

The full NHS staff survey results can be found here.