Dear Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust,
Context:
“At least 19,899 sexual incidents were reported across more than 30 NHS trusts between 2019 and November 2023 – including staff assaults on patients and patients assaulting other patients … Just six out of 50 hospitals were able to prove they were meeting NHS standards aimed at protecting patients from sexual harm.” (The Independent, January 2024)
“It is deeply troubling to see that so many incidents in mental health settings go unreported.
Everyone who is a victim of sexual assault should be supported to come forward, regardless of whether they are a patient or member of staff and irrespective of who the perpetrator is.”
(Dr Lade Smith CBE, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, January 2024)
“It is unacceptable that so few NHS trusts in England provide active bystander training when it is proven to equip staff to tackle harassment and violence when they see it. The NHS needs to ensure all staff complete active bystander training from the very first days of undergraduate degrees through to those nearing retirement. Without this, the problems of sexual harassment will continue to be a problem in the NHS and across wider society.”
(Dr Sarah Steele, Senior Research Associate, University of Cambridge, 2023)
“Every employer should be training its staff to call out sexual harassment when they see colleagues being targeted. In the NHS, the pressures on staff are extreme, so making sure they’re trained and feel confident to challenge unacceptable behaviour is all the more important. NHS managers must step up, do more to protect staff and ensure there’s no place for any kind of inappropriate conduct by patients or other health workers.”
( Helga Pile, Deputy Head of Health, Unison, 2023 )
“It is vital women working in health and care, alongside all healthcare staff, are able to work in environments where they are physically and psychologically safe. This is a basic requirement for all and has a direct link to the quality of care. The targets of sexual harassment and abuse deserve to be listened to and supported and abusers immediately stopped from causing further harm.”
(Health and Care Women Leaders Network, NHS Confederation September 2023)
Freedom of information request :
Please , I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am seeking information on compliance assurance to the public regarding the sexual safety of vulnerable people on mental health wards and within community mental health services. Specifically, I request the following information:
1. has the Trust ever commissioned a thematic review of all the sexual safety incidents across the trust between the period 2018 to 2025 and if so can copies of the thematic reviews be shared and if they are embedded in the bulky board papers please could you provide links to the specific board papers for that period )
2. Sexual Safety Incidents on In-Patient Wards and in the community :
Please provide :
a) The number of sexual safety incidents reported from January 2018 to the present date.
For each incident, please specify in a tabular format :
- Who was affected (e.g., staff, patient, etc.)
- Who the perpetrator was (e.g., staff, patient, etc.)
- The sex of the parties involved.
Please provide the data split by month and year (e.g., January 2023, February 2023, etc.).
Explain if the Duty to Provide Advice and Assistance (Section 16) applies.
3. Formal and informal Sexual Safety Complaints /incidents ( those reported to the police and those that weren't reported ) :
a) The total number of formal and informal sexual safety complaints made on in-patient wards for the specified period ( and corresponding numbers in the community )
For each complaint or incident please specify:
The complainant (e.g., staff, patient, etc.)
Who the complaint was made against (e.g., staff, patient, etc.)
The sex of the parties involved.
4. Breaches of Single-Sex Ward Policy:
a) The total number of breaches of the single-sex ward policy recorded during this period.
Please provide a copy of the Trust single-sex ward policy.
5. Sexual Safety Incidents Across the Trust:
The total number of sexual safety incidents reported across the entire Trust services for the period in question .
6. Reports to the Police:
a)The number of reports made to the police in relation to sexual safety incidents for the period in question ( Please provide the data split by month and year.)
Executive Scheme of Delegation and Governance Manual:
a)Does your Trust have an executive Scheme of Delegation and Governance Manual? please provide link to the document .
b) How many iterations/changes have these documents undergone during this period?
c) Who is the executive lead for sexual safety and are there any escalation report from the lead to board during this period ? (please provide copies or links to board papers or escalation reports from board committees on sexual safety at least one report per year )
d) Has your Trust carried out any sexual safety audits during this period? If so, how many? please share action plans derived from the sexual safety audits at least an annual action plan on sexual safety for each of the years in question )
e) Has the sexual safety policy ever been audited regarding effective implementation as part of the annual policies effectiveness audit workplan ? If so, what were the recommendations from the last two policy audits?
7. Policies and procedures :
a) Does your Trust have the following policies:
- MAPPA policy
- MARAC policy
- People in Position of Trust (PiPoT) policy
- Professional supervision policy
b) Policy on interim locum or temporary workers accessing vulnerable patients, specifying the vetting and supervision arrangements with the agency for the staff they supply to the Trust or policy on how the trust supervises its own bank or temporary staff .
b) Please Can you share copies or link to these documents or policies that govern these arrangements with workforce suppliers clarifying the need for an uptake in Active Bystander Training to address sexual harassment in NHS Trusts addressing /Tackling the impact of wilful blindness within organisational culture, accountability and Governance oversight ?
National Reporting on Sexual Safety Abuse:
8 There was national reporting on sexual safety abuse in mental health services in February 2024. Please share your organisational learning briefing from this national report that was discussed at the board and any corresponding self-assessment and learning action plans where applicable.
Additional Context:
Freedom of information figures show that patients are at risk from staff in numerous hospitals, with more than 300 incidents reported on patients over the five-year period reported on :
a) "It is deeply troubling to see that so many incidents in mental health settings go unreported." ?
b)"Very serious questions must urgently be asked of hospital leaders, who have to explain why the vast majority of these incidents were kept from the police," ?
c)"NHS England must explain why so few trusts have implemented sexual safeguarding protections designed to keep patients safe. ?
d)"The government must treat this investigation as a wake-up call and act against the soaring number of mixed-sex wards in the NHS today."https://news.sky.com/story/mental-health...
https://www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater-m...
https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/news/new...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/healt...
https://rapecrisis.org.uk/news/alarming-...
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/ne...
https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-...
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/599728...

Yours faithfully,

James Ntalumbwa

Dear FOIREQUEST(LPT) (LINCOLNSHIRE PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Thank you for your email. I appreciate your need for clarification before proceeding further. Please find my responses below:

Question 3:
We are requesting information on both incidents and complaints related to sexual safety. By informal/formal sexual safety complaints, we mean any complaints, whether formally documented or informally reported, that pertain to sexual safety.

Question 8:
Please refer to the following linkS for the report mentioned in question 8: Alarming Scale of Sexual Violence and Abuse on Mental Health Wards.
https://aace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2...
https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/news-and-featu...
https://rapecrisis.org.uk/news/alarming-...

I hope this clarifies our request. Please let me know if you need any further information.

Yours sincerely,

James Ntalumbwa

Dear FOIREQUEST(LPT) (LINCOLNSHIRE PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
I hope this message finds you well.

I wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to the team at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust for providing such a thorough and detailed response to my FOI request. Your efforts are greatly appreciated and have been incredibly helpful.

Thank you once again for your diligence and support.

Best regards,

James Ntalumbwa