Patient raped at Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, FOI reveals
It’s as more than two dozen others were sexually assaulted
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, reveals the rate of sexual assaults taking place at the NHS.
In the last three financial years (2022/23 to 2024/25), Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust alone has recorded 77 incidents where a sexual assault has taken place, one of which was rape.
The alleged rape took place during the last financial year, when five other patients also reported having been sexually assaulted while under the trust's care.
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 in 2024/25.
Despite the number of incidents, no staff member was dismissed on the grounds of a sexual offence between 2022/23 and 2024/25.
In the same timeframe, just one employee was disciplined, which took place in the most recent financial year.
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “We take sexual safety within our services very seriously.
“As such, we encourage the reporting of incidents so that full investigations can take place.
“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.”
Experts have called for mandatory trauma-informed training, clearer reporting pathways, stronger protections for whistleblowers, and more consistent sanctions to ensure that sexual offences within healthcare settings are treated with the seriousness they warrant.
“What these disclosures show is a pattern that can no longer be dismissed as isolated wrongdoing,” said CICA (Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority) specialist Ellie Lamey, of Sexual Abuse Compensation Advice.
“Healthcare environments place enormous trust in professionals, and when that trust is abused the impact on victims can be profound and long-lasting.
“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.”
She added: “There must be robust, survivor-centred reporting processes, independent oversight and consequences that genuinely reflect the seriousness of these behaviours.
“Without that, confidence in healthcare institutions will continue to be eroded, and those affected will remain without the justice and support they deserve.”
https://www.sexualabusecompensationadvice.org.uk/sexual-abuse-claims/