Nurse sexually assaulted by colleague receives substantial settlement after Trust refused to refer case to regulator   

The nurse, who we are calling Holly, first raised a complaint against her then-colleague with managers at the Trust in 2021, alleging he behaved inappropriately towards her on multiple occasions and then sexually assaulted her in a clinic room on the ward.

After a prolonged investigation, the Trust decided that the case didn't meet the threshold to be referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and allowed Holly’s abuser to continue working, only providing him with a 12-month written warning with specific recommendations regarding his conduct and employment.  

Holly also reported her experiences to the police but was told that it was a matter for the Trust.

As a result, Holly reported the abuse to the NMC herself, who struck off her abuser after finding 35 different allegations proven against him over sexually motivated actions toward Holly and four other members of hospital staff from 2019 to 2022.

The NMC panel added Holly’s abuser had “breached professional boundaries” on numerous occasions and “repeatedly [harassed] more than one colleague over a prolonged period of time”.

In July 2021, Holly left the Trust as a result of the abuse she suffered and the Trust’s response. She turned to Leigh Day’s head of abuse claims, Alison Millar, to bring a civil claim against South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust which recently settled for £56,000.

Holly said: “There is a complete lack of awareness about these things happening in the NHS. It’s very much hidden under the carpet, I felt like they [the trust] didn’t know how to handle this.

“I thought, if this was happening to our ward, what was happening elsewhere? If this is a highly esteemed trust, what chance have you got with others? It feels like a massive let-down from the trust. As highly esteemed as they say they are.”

“I was angry and quite let down because I trained in that trust, and it was my first experience of being in a mental health trust, and I had them in such high regard. It shocked me. My thought then was what the hell does constitute a referral to the NMC? They didn’t feel it met the threshold to be disclosed to the NMC. So, I reported him.”

Alison Millar said: “Having done a number of these cases now, I do feel there is a real issue with healthcare organisations not properly responding to this kind of behaviour. 

“The perpetrator’s inappropriate behaviour in this case was apparently tolerated, making it difficult for those affected to speak up and emboldening him eventually to sexually assault my client. How can it not meet the threshold for NMC referral?

“There is a need for all NHS Trusts to have effective sexual safety policies in place to protect patients and staff and act on any incidents of unwanted, inappropriate or harmful sexual behaviour."