Thousands of hospital sex attacks reported to police in past four years

Thousands of sex attacks have been reported in hospitals across England and Wales in the past four years, figures have revealed.

NHS England on Sunday told local trusts to ensure “robust measures are in place” to deal with reports of abuse as it emerged police received 6,539 reports of rape and sexual assault in hospital settings since 2019.

Of these, just 256 (four per cent) resulted in a charge or summons being brought, as campaigners accused the authorities of failing victims.

More than 1,000 of the attacks took place on hospital wards. The victims included children as young as 13, as well as instances of multiple perpetrators attacking one person.

Data obtained by the Women’s Rights Network (WRN) through Freedom of Information (FoI) requests from 35 of 43 police forces show reports of rape and sexual assault in UK hospitals between January 2019 and October 2022.

They include the period of the Covid pandemic when lockdowns and restrictions limited the number of visitors.

Heather Binning, spokeswoman for WRN, said sex attacks in hospitals were a “deep-seated problem” and “hospitals and police are failing women and children yet again”.

She said: “Hospitals are places where everyone – patients, staff and visitors – should feel completely safe. But rape and violent assault is taking place every week in hospitals.

“To add to the horror, those men committing the crimes are getting away with it.”

Of the attacks reported, 2,088 were reports of rape and 4,451 of sexual assaults. Although the FoI responses do not record the sex of the victims, national data shows that fewer than five per cent of rape victims are men.

In Lancashire there were six reports of a girl under the age of 13 being raped, and four victims under the age of 16 in Cambridgeshire.

West Midlands Police identified two incidents of rape of a female and one of a boy aged 16 or over which involved “multiple undefined offenders”.

The findings are thought to be “the tip of the iceberg” as one in five forces did not provide the figures and it is estimated fewer than one in six rape victims report their assault to the police.

Devon and Cornwall, Durham, Northamptonshire and North Yorkshire did not issue a single summons or charge for any of the 333 sex attacks in their areas.

The “appalling” charge and summons rate for hospital settings is one per cent higher than that for all sexual offences across England and Wales in 2022.

As the numbers relate to all reports to police forces, they will include those made in private as well as NHS settings.

Jo Phoenix, professor of criminology at Reading University who wrote the report, said the figures were “shocking and prove that NHS trusts are failing in their duty to protect both patients and staff”.

She added: “There appears to be ingrained inertia in dealing with this safeguarding and policing failure.”

NHS England said the “figures are unacceptable and the NHS must be a safe space for all staff and patients and local services should not tolerate sexual misconduct, violence, harassment or abuse”.

A spokeswoman said: “All NHS trusts and organisations must ensure robust measures are in place to ensure immediate action is taken in any cases reported to them. Anyone who has experienced any misconduct or violence should come forward, report it and seek help – there is support and care available for anyone who needs it.”

A government source said “NHS organisations are responsible for protecting their staff from sexual harassment and misconduct, and employers should be proactive in their approach.”

A government spokesman said: “NHS leaders have a statutory duty of care to look after their staff and patients and prevent harassment, abuse or violence in the workplace.

“There is still a long way to go in tackling rape and delivering justice for victims. That‘s why the Government is working on an ambitious programme, Operation Soteria, to transform rape investigations and prosecutions.

“Across the NHS and the criminal justice system, we need to raise the bar and ensure that victims know they will be taken seriously, hospital staff and patients are fully supported, their concerns are listened to and acted on and, ultimately, that the criminals responsible are put behind bars.”

A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman said “more must be done to see the response to rape and sexual offences improve”.

It said it is working with the Crown Prosecution Service to increase the number of rape cases being taken to court.