The NHS’s flagship strategy to tackle sexual harassment across England has failed to improve the safety of female staff, according to legal experts and healthcare unions. The NHS Sexual Safety Charter, launched in September 2023, was supposed to address how hospitals, GP surgeries, and other organisations deal with sexual misconduct. However, the UK-based charity Rights of Women says calls from NHS staff to its sexual harassment advice line have increased significantly since the charter was rolled out.
Laura Bolam, the employment law officer at Rights of Women, which provides free legal advice to 3,000 working women each year across England and Wales, said the proportion of its callers who were women in the NHS had doubled recently. “In 2023, around 11% of our calls came from women working in the NHS; this rose to 19% in 2024 and increased again to 22% in 2025. This highlights that sexual harassment within NHS trusts is not only rising but appears to be an entrenched, systemic issue.”
A Guardian investigation found many trusts continued to report improbably low numbers of incidents, particularly for staff sexually assaulting or harassing colleagues and other staff. Responses by 212 NHS trusts in England to freedom of information requests disclosed just over 1,200 incidents of staff-on-staff sexual harm from 2022-23 to 2024-25. More than two-thirds (93) of acute trusts reported fewer than three sexual harm incidents by staff against other staff over those three years, while 24 recorded none.
However, in the latest annual NHS staff survey, 3.7% of workers said they had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour from colleagues. Given that the NHS in England employs 1.5 million people, this would equate to 54,900 alleged victims in 2024 alone.
Bolam said there seemed little evidence that the charter had improved the safety of female staff. “We continue to hear from women whose workplaces have not upheld its commitments,” she said. “Many have told us that their managers were unaware of the charter’s existence, let alone implementing its provisions.”
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary, Prof Nicola Ranger, said: “It has become increasingly clear that elements of the charter, including around promoting a culture of openness and transparency, are not being adhered to or enforced effectively. The Secretary of State and NHS leadership need to introduce a simplified national standardised method for reporting sexual assaults.”
Dr Emma Runswick, the BMA deputy council chair, said the charter’s commitment to a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual assault and harassment was meaningless without visible action and called for “clarity” on how NHS England holds them to account if they fail to protect their workforce.
In response, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Beyond the work already under way to tackle sexual harassment, we will also introduce a series of new staff standards for NHS staff this year, covering sexual safety in the workplace, as well as tackling racism and reducing violence.”