Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust has recorded 77 incidents where a sexual assault has taken place since 2022. 

A Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust patient was raped while under the trust’s care, as a further two dozen were sexually assaulted in just three years.

The figures, uncovered through a freedom of information request sent by Sexual Abuse Compensation Advice, reveal the rate of sexual assaults taking place at the NHS.

In the past three financial years – since 2022 – Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust alone has recorded 77 incidents where a sexual assault has taken place, one of which was rape.

In the same time frame, one member of the public and 11 employees were sexually assaulted.

A third of all sexual assaults that were recorded by the trust saw a patient as the victim (26), with as many as 49 staffers also lodging a complaint to the service and two members of the public.

On top of the offences, there were a further 56 complaints of sexual harassment taking place on the trust’s grounds – 11 of which were reported by patients, while eight of those happened last year.

Despite the number of incidents, no staff member has been dismissed on the grounds of a sexual offence since 2022. In the same timeframe, just one employee was disciplined, which took place in the most recent financial year.

“We take sexual safety within our services very seriously. As such, we encourage the reporting of incidents so that full investigations can take place,” said a spokesperson for Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. 

“We can confirm that the incident recorded as rape has been the subject of a police investigation, which we have supported. More generally, we have a full range of security and safety measures in place to minimise the possibility that offences occur, but also a full range of support for anyone affected by such incidents,” they continued. 

Reputation over protection 

The findings back up a BMA survey in November, which found that two-in-five female respondents experience being targets of sexual harassment or sexual assault at university, and a concerningly high number mention criminal offences.

National evidence shows that sexual misconduct in medicine is widespread, under-reported, and inconsistently sanctioned, particularly where strong power imbalances exist between staff and patients.

A recent analysis of Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) decisions found that nearly a quarter of all tribunal cases heard in a single year involved sexual misconduct, with more than half of those cases involving sexual assault allegations.

Among cases where misconduct was proven, 65% resulted in doctors being erased from the medical register, while 35% led only to suspension, even in serious cases.

In almost a quarter of cases (24%), tribunals imposed less severe sanctions than those recommended by the General Medical Council, raising concerns about leniency and inconsistency.

Disturbingly, one in four (26%) of cases involved offences against children. The study also found that all doctors sanctioned for sexual misconduct were male, with 83% holding senior positions of authority, such as consultants or GPs.

“What these disclosures show is a pattern that can no longer be dismissed as isolated wrongdoing,” said Ellie Lamey, head of our sexual abuse claims department at Sexual Abuse Compensation Advice.

“We regularly hear from people who stayed silent for months or years because they believed speaking up would achieve nothing or would place them at personal or professional risk. That silence should not be mistaken for absence of harm – it reflects fear, imbalance of power and a system that too often prioritises reputation over protection.”