Last month I received an email from a distressed member of staff who reported that they had been the victim of a sexual assault by a patient. Aside from the obvious impact that this had on the individual, one of their key concerns was that, despite a compassionate response from their line manager, they had difficulty in understanding what response they should expect from the wider organisation.
I was extremely concerned when I read about the experience of this colleague, and I asked them to meet with me. They agreed to meet to share their experience and also to offer their reflections on what was missing from the organisation's response. They felt that there were gaps in the following areas:
A report on sexual harassment released this year (UNISON, 2019) found that 8% of respondents had been victims of sexual assault. Of these 8%, more than a third reported that it had consequences for their mental health, with 2 in 5 reporting that they wished to leave their current job. At a time where there has been a national focus on the recruitment and retainment of staff, it has never been more important to provide an environment and culture that not only cares about the service users’, but also its staff's wellbeing. It is extremely important to demonstrate our respective organisations’ values, including caring for our staff.
When we met, my colleague talked about the perceived ‘zero tolerance of the assault and abuse of staff’ mantra of the NHS. And yet health and social care specialists and health professionals have a higher than average risk—at 5.1% and 3.3% respectively—of being victims of workplace-related abuse (Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 2019a).
My colleague also critiqued the posters displayed around the organisation publicising the ‘zero tolerance’ of assault and abuse. The few that were displayed featured a lady smiling, which they felt was easy to ignore, rather than the ‘Your choice of treatment’ poster, which features a nurse and a police officer.
The individual also raised the issue of ‘duty of candour’ referring to the legal obligation to inform clients/service users where harm has occurred or could cause substantial harm in the future. This refers specifically to harm to the service user (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2018:13-14; Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA), 2019). However, when harm had been suffered by our staff member, there seemed to be no obvious process for the Trust to follow.
I have written before about the clinical application of health and safety—as the lead executive in my Trust for this area. I acknowledge that the HSE (2019b) places responsibility on the employer to protect the safety, wellbeing and health of its employees, as well as those accessing the service. Crucially, it must ensure that employees are aware of potential risks, how they are protected and how to implement policies and procedures should risk occur, or to minimise potential risks.
We met with a wider group of colleagues to discuss how we could respond to the experience shared by our colleague, and drew up the following plan: