Over 20,000 convictions of sexual abuse of patients and personnel are reported in England

Thousands of hospital personnel have reported being sexually abused by patients, according to an investigation, prompting calls for ministers to take action because of the daily conduct doctors and nurses are facing.

More than 20,000 suspected incidents of sexual violence and improper behavior by hospital staff patients were recorded in five years until 2022 from 212 health systems in England.

20,928 cases represented slightly less than 60% of the total of alleged incidents. The charges included claims of rape, sexual assault, harassment, persecution, and sexist comments.

The investigation by Guardian and BMJ found that 35,606 incidents were recorded from abusive comments to rape, allegedly committed by staff, patients or visitors to NHS hospitals in England between 2017 and 2022.

While most were cases of patient-stuff abuse, nearly 7,500 were claims of patients abusing other patients and more than 3,000 cases of staff abusing patients.