Call for action on shocking extent of sex attacks at maternity units

Health watchdogs are to introduce new reporting systems for sexual assaults and rapes in ­hospitals after the Sunday Post revealed more than 250 attacks in five years.

Campaigners and MSPs have been calling for change after new figures showed more than half of all cases did not result in police charges, and inconsistent reporting by health boards had resulted in only a fraction of attacks being logged.

Now the Scottish Govern­ment has confirmed that Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is working to standardise reporting of incidents following our campaign.

It comes as we reveal new research by Women’s Rights Network (WRN) Scotland showed women have been raped and sexually assaulted at Scottish ­maternity hospitals on at least five occasions.

One rape and three ­sexual assaults took place at Glasgow’s Princess Royal Maternity Hospital. Two of those attacks were on hospital wards, and just two people were reported to police. Police logged one report of rape at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, but no one was charged.

The WRN investigation also ­uncovered at least one woman suffered a sexual assault at a specialist unit for palliative end-of-life care in Aberdeen.

And there was one report of a sexual assault in the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, but no one was charged.

Mary Howden, of WRN Scotland, welcomed the move by HIS to standardise reporting, saying: “We welcome this but we must ensure full reporting is mandatory and far more comprehensive. Some health boards are currently not bothering, while others are not detailing who the victims and perpetrators are, patients or staff. It’s unacceptable.

“Our investigation uncovered hundreds of sexual assaults and rapes in hospitals, with some of the highest ­number of attacks happening in wards which have some of the most ­ vulnerable patients.

“There is no mandatory reporting system in place to properly record attacks and, because of that, it is clear we are still only seeing the tip of the iceberg. We found data was not routinely kept by 67% of the almost 200 hospitals we surveyed, indicating the real number of attacks must be significantly higher than the 276 sexual assaults and 12 rapes we did record.

“It was shocking to see 72% of our psychiatric hospitals reported incidents. Those are places where patients are most vulnerable but are routinely placed on mixed-sex wards.

“Sexual assaults and rapes were even recorded at two maternity hospitals. Even more disturbing was the sexual assault at NHS Grampian’s Roxburghe House, a hospital dedicated to deliver end-of-life palliative care, as well as a sexual assault at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children.

“By far the highest number of these attacks happened on hospital wards – 163 of the 288 recorded. This highlights just how health boards are failing to operate robust patient safety protocols. Only 156 individuals were ever reported to police. That must change.”

The report is being sent to the Scottish Government, with recommendations for radical change in gathering figures, implementing patient safety protocols, and ­making single-sex wards a priority.

Health boards ‘failing to report all sex attacks on hospital wards’

Scottish Conservative shadow equalities minister Tess White said: “The evidence in this report is spine chilling. The very first thing the government must do is ensure we get full data from health boards so we can see the full extent of the problem.”

Last month, the Sunday Post revealed Stobhill in Glasgow is the hospital where patients and staff were most at risk of sexual assault, with 20 in the past five years. That was followed by Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary with 18. Private hospital the Cygnet Wallace, in Dundee, which caters for patients with complex needs, was third-worst on 13.

Carolyn Brown, of WRN Scotland, said: “It took months to gather this information from Police Scotland. It became clear health boards are simply not properly recording every incident.”

Despite police ­documents confirming attacks, NHS Grampian says it has no record of them. A spokesperson said: “In the event an incident of assault does take place – be it verbal, physical or sexual – we will support victims through reporting and investigation and work closely with Police Scotland.”

The Scottish Government said: “Assaults on patients or staff are completely unacceptable. We strongly encourage staff to report all instances of violent and aggressive behaviour through their local reporting systems and would expect boards to support patients as much as possible.”