In her latest weekly Integrated Care Board (ICB) update, Sam Allen, North East and North Cumbria (NENC) ICB Chief Executive, took a strong stand on our Integrated Care System’s zero tolerance approach to sexual misconduct in healthcare.
Sexual safety at work is an issue which is not confined to the healthcare sector, but as the organisation which leads and sets the tone for the NHS in the North East and North Cumbria, as well as the influence it has on partner organisations and sectors, it is reassuring to see that the ICB has given such visible and vocal support to reporting and responding to negative behaviour and modelling positive change.
All of the NHS organisations in the North East and North Cumbria have signed up to the NHS’s first ever sexual safety charter which was launched earlier this month and commits to taking and enforcing a zero-tolerance approach to any unwanted, inappropriate and/or harmful sexual behaviours within the workplace. From the signatories listed on the NHS charter, it looks like the NENC ICB is the first ICB to sign up, which sends a positive message about the importance our ICB places on the safety of all healthcare workers from sexual misconduct at work.
Last week, a report was released containing shocking findings about sexual misconduct during surgery, and a letter was printed in The Times by a retired consultant anaesthetist suggesting female young doctors are 'snowflakes' for not accepting bullying or sexual harassment in the workplace and need to toughen up. Sam voiced how appalled she was, stating “This outdated patriarchal claptrap has no place in the NHS, no place in society and no place in the written press.” She continued by saying, “this type of behaviour needs to be called out and will be called out, it simply cannot be tolerated.”
It is horrendous that this needs to be a consideration at all, but it is only by loudly calling out negative behaviour, creating a supportive environment for victims and survivors and committing to uphold stringent standards that these issues will cease, and the strong support given by Sam and the ICB is commendable.
It is important to recognise that the VCSE sector provides a huge amount of support to victims and survivors of sexual misconduct in all settings, as well as highlighting key issues and trends via reporting and data collection and collation. The sector is also widely involved in supporting national and local policy and strategy. As an Integrated Care System, this is an area in which there is potential to combine resources and intelligence to ensure that while we are still experiencing issues around sexual misconduct and violence, we have a robust and supportive structure to ensure that victims and survivors are supported to the best of our collective ability.
As part of the VCSE Partnership Programme, we host a ‘Women/Violence Against Women and Girls’ sub-group. Please contact our Engagement Manager, Siobhan Flynn: Siobhan.Flynn@vonne.org.uk or Engagement Coordinator, Sian Dickie: Sian.Dickie@vonne.org.uk for further information, or you can sign up to this and other sub-groups through our online form here.
Sam Allen is also Chair of the Health and Care Women Leaders Network, open to all women and people identifying as women working in health and care.
You can sign up for Sam’s weekly ICB updates on the North East and North Cumbria ICS website here.