Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is a zero tolerance approach to sexual assault and harassment by staff of patients in (a) hospitals, (b) mental health inpatient units and (c) under community care teams.

Sexual assault, abuse, violence and harassment by National Health Service staff on patients is taken very seriously by all NHS providers and commissioning and oversight organisations. Protecting patients from abuse and neglect, and care and treatment that is degrading is a right in the NHS Constitution.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has provided the following response:

The CQC places an important focus on the safety of service users regardless of which sector it is regulating, including the prevention of sexual assault. In the CQC’s health assessment framework, under the safe key question it seeks to understand how providers ensure service users are protected from abuse and avoidable harm, whether physical, sexual, mental or psychological, financial, neglect, institutional or discriminatory abuse.

Sector-specific prompts are included in the CQC’s inspections for each sector, including NHS and independent acute, community and mental health services.

The CQC wrote to system partners in May 2018 inviting them to help further explore the issue of sexual safety on mental health inpatient units wards more generally following its report, ‘State of Care in Mental Health Services 2014-17’ including sexual assaults and harassment by staff of patients. It will publish a report, with recommendations, later this year.

NHS England has provided the following response:

NHS England Safeguarding Team is party to the Government’s Round Table conversations on these abuse and violence issues which will bring further clarity about how to mitigate the likelihood of sexual harassment and abuse by staff of patients in environments where that is deemed to be a risk.

NHS England is in dialogue with specialised commissioning colleagues of sexual assault centres; medical professional colleagues, specialising in women’s heath in psychiatry about clinical and service standards. The aim is to improve staff and corporate awareness in relation to domestic violence and sexual assault and harassment, including by staff on patients and the Government is currently consulting on:

- Protecting and supporting victims;

- Pursuing and deterring perpetrators; and

- Improving performance in terms of reporting and response.

NHS England continues to actively support all staff across hospitals, mental health inpatient units, in community care teams and home cares to listen to such allegations from their patients and report such allegations to their line managers.

In summary NHS England continues to give absolute due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation of all types and especially violence, abuse and assault against patients in care.