Blackpool Victoria Hospital promises to listen to victims after figures show sex attacks on rise

Eight cases of staff-on-patient “sexual safety incidents” were noted at the Whinney Heys Road hospital in 2023/24

First published 19 September 2024

The number of medics at Blackpool Victoria Hospital being accused of sex attacks on patients has risen.

Eight cases of staff-on-patient “sexual safety incidents” were noted at the Whinney Heys Road hospital in 2023/24, up from “fewer than five” the year before.

The figures have been released under freedom of information laws - and are revealed days after the Vic’s new boss acknowledged the hospital’s troubled recent history, which includes the unsolved suspected rape and murder of a grandmother on the stroke unit.

The NHS trust running the Vic said its executive director of people and culture Katy Coope “has led a number of improvements relating to sexual safety”.

Coope said in a statement: “We encourage people to speak up about anything they see, hear or experience with a guarantee that we will listen and take every incident and allegation seriously, investigating them thoroughly and taking action. This is a firm commitment from the trust board and it is reflected through colleagues at every level and in every service.

“I don’t want to shy away from the fact that we have had a number of cases, some of which have been passed to the police and investigated, resulting in some high profile trials relating to criminal behaviour within the trust.  

“In truth, whilst we would aspire towards an environment where no one ever behaved inappropriately, this isn’t the reality of life and the culture we want is one where, when it does occur, people are supported to stand up and speak out against it, confident they will be heard. To everyone who has done this, however difficult, I want to say thank you.

“I am proud of the way the trust continues to implement robust policies and procedures, as well as compassion, respect and support for those affected by sexual assault and, while we have seen an increase in the number of incidents, my gut instinct is that this reflects this new approach, where people are encouraged and supported to come forward. Calling it out is an effective way of reducing it and I am confident we will see this in the future.”

So-called sexual safety incidents include sex assaults, sexual harassment and other incidents that make the victim “feel uncomfortable and/or sexually unsafe”.

The Vic refused to give specific figures below five in case it accidentally identified any alleged victims - but said there were 23 total reports in 2022/23 and 27 the year after.

Of those 27, eight were allegedly patient-on-patient attacks in 2023/24, up from fewer than five in 2022/23.

Thirteen were allegedly patient-on-staff attacks in 2023/24, down from 16 the year before.

None of the alleged victims were children.

The figures only relate to the number of alleged attacks and not the number of confirmed assaults.

But they emerged as police continue to hunt for clues in the murder of Valerie Kneale, 75, on the Vic’s stroke unit in 2018.

Tests showed that the grandmother bled to death after suffering non-medical related internal injuries, which an inquest was told was most likely caused by a violent sex attack.

An unidentified healthcare professional was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, rape and murder but later released without charge.

Lancashire Police’s DCI Jill Johnson said previously: “It’s a real worry to the investigation and to the hospital that this could be just one of a number of attacks at the hands of someone who is a predator and who may have committed previous attacks of this nature.”

There has been a string of other alarming incidents in recent years, too, including a “stressed” Vic junior doctor being jailed for groping girls as young as 10 in the street and care worker Hernando Puno, 52, being sent to prison for sexually assaulting five hospital colleagues.

Puno grabbed and slapped some of his victims’ bottoms, a court was told, and approached others from behind and kissed and hugged them.

One of his victims made a formal complaint to the Vic about Puno’s perverted ways almost a decade before he was finally jailed but “did not appear to be taken seriously”, the court heard.

Speaking to The Gazette in recent days as the Vic was named in the national media as being one of the country’s worst-performing hospitals, its chief executive Maggie Oldham, who joined in April, said she will not “shy away from the challenges and concerns surrounding the trust”.

She said: “We are a challenged organisation and it’s important that we don’t gloss over that - not for colleagues in the trust, the wider health and social care system or, more importantly, for our patients and their families.

“We have to acknowledge there is a history of clinical quality and safety issues here, some of which have led to police investigations while others have been raised by the regulator the Care Quality Commission.”

The Blackpool Lead asked the Vic a number of questions about the sex safety incidents, including how many of the eight staff-on-patient allegations reported last year led to a member of staff being investigated and how many led to a worker being sacked or police called in.

It did not answer them.