Victims’ tsar demands action from NHS over ‘systemic failures’ to tackle sexual abuse

The NHS must act urgently to tackle “systemic failures” that have allowed sexual abuse to thrive in mental health hospitals across the country, the victims’ tsar has warned.

Baroness Helen Newlove urged healthcare leaders to address “sustained” failures to tackle the alleged sexual abuse and harassment of patients on psychiatric wards – warning victims had been failed by a system designed to care for them.

Her comments come after a bombshell investigation by The Independent shed light on the almost 20,000 allegations of sexual assault and harassment on NHS mental health wards in the past five years.

Separately, The Independent can now also reveal that more than 4,000 sexual harassment, abuse or assault reports have been made by patients and staff to the healthcare watchdog regarding private hospitals.

The victims’ commissioner is appointed by the Ministry of Justice to champion the interests of victims and witnesses of crimes.

Responding to the revelations, Baroness Newlove said: “These harrowing allegations are shocking and unforgivable. It is inconceivable that a system meant to provide safety and healing could fail so fundamentally in its duty to protect the vulnerable.

“We cannot and must not accept anything less than an NHS where everyone feels safe, supported in seeking help, and receives the respect and care they deserve.”

The victims’ commissioner, appointed on an interim basis in October of last year, said “very serious” questions should be asked of NHS England and hospital leaders in the wake of the investigation, which uncovered what campaigners described as a “national scandal”.

She accused the NHS of an “indifference” towards victims and criticised “the apparent culture of not believing victims, and the seeming lack of any forthcoming support”.

She added: “Very serious questions must be asked of hospital leaders, and NHS England must explain why so few trusts have taken appropriate action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of patients and staff.”

Throughout the 18-month investigation, multiple patients and their families spoke to The Independent about their stories of sexual assault and abuse while locked in mental health units.

The joint investigation with Sky News, published last month, revealed in an exclusive podcast the shocking story of Alexis Quinn who was forced to escape from hospital following multiple alleged assaults.

Last week, The Independent also revealed the story of nurse Michelle Russell who has been fighting for eight years against her NHS trust employer and the nursing regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, after making claims of sexual harassment against another nurse.

Major clinical negligence firm Leigh Day said it was concerned that NHS trusts were not complying with their duty under the European Convention of Human Rights, which requires them to ensure allegations of sexual harm are “coherently investigated”.

The firm said it had seen many cases in which alleged perpetrators were allowed to continue working at the hospital –and sometimes even on the same ward – where patients had made complaints.

The Independent can now also reveal more than 4,000 “safety safety” reports, which include allegations of sexual harassment, abuse or assault, have been made by patients and staff separately to the Care Quality Commission regarding private hospital services between 2019 and 2023.

Among the dozens who came forward with allegations of abuse to The Independent and Sky News, were patients claiming to have suffered assault within private hospitals paid for by the NHS.

Two young women speaking with The Independent were groomed, and one also sexually abused, by healthcare assistants working at privately run children’s mental health hospitals.

Following the investigations, the Department of Health and Social Care said a national review – previously launched into mental health services – would now also look into sexual assault on hospital wards.

Leigh Day is among those warning this response is not enough. The firm said: “While further scrutiny is to be welcomed, the scale of the problem requires urgent action, and must not be kicked into the long grass.”

The Department of Health and Social Care refused to respond substantively to questions from The Independent as to how it is ensuring NHS trusts address problems of sexual assault, but said it “is clear that the NHS should work to stop sexual assaults happening in NHS services and premises”.

It said patients should not share sleeping accommodations but did not address the issue of shared communal areas.

NHS England did not respond substantively to any questions from The Independent but said that the NHS had made clear providers have a legal and moral duty to safeguard patients and report all incidents of sexual violence.

The Care Quality Commission was approached for comment.