Read the report
NHS employers must take responsibility for reducing sexual harassment and doctors should receive lifelong sexual harassment training, says a new report by HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union into sexual harassment in medicine.
Actions Not Words: Tackling sexual harassment in medicine is published as the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 comes into force on Saturday, which places a new preventative duty on employers.
But the report shows that the legislation does not go far enough. HCSA is calling for the new government to amend the law to better protect employees from sexual harassment by third parties.
HCSA wants to see the law amended so that employers are directly liable for sexual harassment of employees by third parties in the course of their employment, with employers having to take all reasonable steps to protect their employees from harassment.
Launching the report, HCSA National Officer Isslia Roberts said:
“These experiences make for shocking reading – but sadly few familiar with the working environment in hospitals will be surprised.
“Recent positive steps, including NHS England’s sexual safety charter and new GMC professional standards in January, are welcome. But the experiences of our members show that employers must still accept greater responsibility for protecting employees’ health and wellbeing at work by tackling sexual harassment.
“That responsibility must be enshrined and supported by legislation. Frustratingly, the new Act coming into force falls short. NHS leaders and ministers must move urgently to ensure doctors are safe at work.”
Shocking stories
Sexual harassment revealed to HCSA by doctors ranged from verbal harassment to traumatic sexual assault:
“A consultant once put his hand all the way down my knickers and touched me intimately. I was horrified, shocked and frozen… I never dared say anything because I was ashamed and also pretty convinced no-one would believe me.”
Several doctors said they were advised against reporting harassment if they did not want to suffer career detriment. Others revealed they felt they had to resign from their jobs:
“I suffered huge anxiety, had difficulty sleeping and finally the impact on my physical health that meant I had to resign from my job. I still take medication eight years on.”
Or consider leaving the medical profession entirely:
“Like other victims, predominantly women, I may yet decide I can no longer work in a profession where I do not feel physically or psychologically safe.”
Stark statistics
70.% of respondents, and 78.4% of women respondents, had witnessed or experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Yet only one in 10 reported it to their employer. More than half didn’t know whether their employer had a sexual harassment policy. Of those that did report, 75% felt their employer could have done more.
Action, not words
The report sets out 12 practical recommendations to tackle sexual harassment in the NHS:
- Equalities and sexual harassment training in medical schools, with reviews throughout a doctor’s career
- Distinct grievance processes and policies for sexual harassment cases
- Extending the limit on bringing a sexual harassment claim to Employment Tribunal from three to six months
- A workplace mentor support system for those who report sexual harassment
- Clear and wide promotion of employer sexual harassment policies
- Safe reporting pathways, with multiple reporting routes available
- Regular employee surveys to measure the prevalence of sexual harassment
- Accurate record-keeping to identify repeat offenders
- A cultural shift to challenge all inappropriate behaviour
- Tailored risk assessments for more vulnerable staff, including lone workers, younger workers and those on placements
- The Health and Safety Executive’s RIDDOR reporting system to include sexual harassment
- Amending the law to offer employees greater protection from third-party sexual harassment.
Read the report
Notes for editors
- Anonymised quotes by doctors who currently work in or previously worked in the NHS.
- Survey of 319 hospital doctors via online survey conducted July 2023. Please see the report for full methodology.
- Changes under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 come into effect on Saturday 26th October. The Act places a new preventative duty on employers but does not make them directly liable for harassment of employees by third parties and only requires employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to safeguard employees against sexual harassment.
- HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union is the trade union and professional association for hospital doctors of all grades across the UK.
Please direct all media requests to press@hcsa.com.
If you have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment at work, HCSA urges you to contact us.
Contact our advice team via Advice@hcsa.com or by phone on 01256 770 999.