WARNING: This article contains language and content that some readers may find upsetting

As a single mother, Lucy* looked forward to her rare nights out. A few years ago, during after-work drinks at a local pub, he started to feel ill. When he collapsed and passed out, a balloonist called an ambulance. Lucy’s drink had been spiked.

The ambulance was manned by two paramedics, a man and a woman. Still unconscious, Lucy was put on a stretcher, tied to the bed and taken to the hospital.

After a terrifying episode, Lucy’s friends must have breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe and cared for. But as the ambulance driver looked in her rear-view mirror to check on Lucy, she says she saw the unimaginable – her male colleague sexually assaulting her patient.

Lucy still doesn’t remember what happened, but she has the police report and the crime scene footage from inside the ambulance.

Pointing to a photo of where she was strapped down, she says almost matter-of-factly: “He lifted my legs up so my knees were up and put his hand in my groin – possibly touching my vagina.”

When he recovered, he was told what had happened to him. Years later, she still struggles to process it.

The paramedic denied the charges and was found not guilty at trial, but was later struck off by the paramedic regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

They have a lower standard of proof than criminal courts and found against him, calling him “a serious threat to patient safety”.

Lucy still wouldn’t feel safe getting into an ambulance today. “It’s awful, you feel so violated and vulnerable,” she says.

“It’s a shock to think that someone in that position would do that, when they should be there to look after you.”

Her story is harrowing, but Lucy is not alone. It is part of a year-long Sky News investigation into sexual misconduct in the ambulance service, which revealed a culture where abuse and harassment among staff is rife and patients are sexualised.

A senior ambulance boss admits the service has “let victims down”, while stressing that the culprits are “the minority”.

Jason Killens, head of the Ambulance Service in Wales and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, says he expects a “steady increase” in the number of cases, with more paramedics being dismissed for sexual misconduct in the coming years because of his work . the organization does to change the culture.

Figures shared with Sky News show that one in five sexual misconduct complaints made against paramedics to their regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council, in 2023 were for acts against patients or members of the public.

While less than 1% of all HCPC members raised concerns against them last year, in cases of sexual misconduct, paramedics were grossly over-represented.

They make up just 11% of the HCPC register, but account for 64% of all sexual harassment investigations against colleagues. The regulator’s chair, Christine Elliot, believes cases of sexual misconduct are “just the tip of the iceberg”.

“It’s all about patient safety,” she says. “Patients need to know that when they see a doctor, they can count on them to provide the best possible care with the best possible demeanor.”

“Totally useless breast exams”

Cases such as Lucy’s are rare, but several whistleblowers from several trusts have spoken of a culture where “battles” or jokes about groping patients are common.

Current and former paramedics say they have heard patients, especially young women, being sexualized by the men who helped treat or even save them.

A former paramedic revealed the phrase “totally useless breast exams” (or TUBEs) and said he heard paramedics talking about “TUBE” young, drunk women. He also claims to have seen a colleague groping another colleague’s breasts, telling him: “I just TUBEed you.”

A second woman said the same phenomenon was called “jazz hands” in her confidence. Both said these were widely understood phrases that referred to colleagues accidentally or deliberately touching a woman’s breast during treatment.

A third paramedic told us he overheard colleagues talking about patients in an explicitly sexual manner, saying things like, “She had nice breasts” or “those were silicone,” while bragging about getting the patient’s number and that he had a “good feeling”. .

“That’s assault. It’s sexual assault,” she says.

‘It will be fun. Your career will progress”

“One of my biggest fears was that I wouldn’t be believed because of where I worked. It was the ambulance service and he was the man in charge,” says Ellie*, whose first job was as a call handler in an ambulance check. chamber.

He loved the camaraderie and the idea that he was making a difference. Until one day, the manager called her into his office and invited her to a conference with him. At first, she was flattered and a little confused.

“He explained that I liked it and then he reached out and touched my leg.” Shocked, Ellie froze. “I was in my 20s and I didn’t know what his intention was. I was a bit naive, perhaps.” As he continued to speak, her boss slid her hand “as far up my thigh as possible.”

Horrified, she pulled back in her chair and asked him what he was doing.

“If you come, we’ll share a room. It’ll be fun. Your career will advance,” her boss replied.

“No,” she exclaimed, rushing out of the room in a panic. Back in her office, she continued to take 999 calls while he watched over her.

He then claims the messages started: “There were photos of his private parts as well as messages suggesting meeting in the car park for sex and saying he wanted to kiss me. do with me.”

The messages continued “for months,” she says, despite her asking him to stop. She was afraid to go to work for fear of seeing him and avoided going to the toilet in case she ran into him in the corridor.

She eventually showed the messages to HR, she says, but claims they suggested moving her to another office. He would not be punished.

“It was sexual harassment,” says Ellie, caught between anger and despair. “They did nothing. There was no investigation. No meeting with him that I’m aware of. No statement from me. Nothing. I was the problem.”

She eventually quit the job, but claims he still works there to this day, an injustice that “makes me feel bad,” she says.

A spokesman for NHS England recently said new national guidance and training had been introduced “to stamp out this appalling behaviour”.

“Any abuse or violence directed at NHS staff is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated and the NHS is committed to tackling unwanted, inappropriate or harmful sexual behavior in the workplace. We have recently introduced new national guidance and training which will help staff to recognise, report and act on sexual misconduct in the workplace to stamp out this appalling behaviour,” they said.

“We failed these individuals…I’m sorry”

Ellie’s story is just “not right”, says Ambulance Chief Mr Killens.

“We failed these individuals,” he admits, saying “I’m sorry” to both staff and patients who “were subjected to bad behavior by our people.”

Work is underway, he says, to address this type of behavior, citing it as his and his organization’s top priority.

This will involve weeding out the perpetrators, but also playing the “long” game to change the culture “so that we can start tackling inappropriate behavior or misconduct early rather than letting it get worse and worse,” he says.

According to the HCPC president, cultural change is needed from the top down. Sexual harassment, says Elliot, needs to be treated with as much priority as “waiting times and hospitals falling apart”.

Read more from this investigation:
Life as a female paramedic
‘Toxic’ bullying culture exposed

But many of the victims we spoke to say the HCPC is taking too long (an average of three years) to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.

Elliot agrees that’s not good enough, but says they have initiatives to speed things up and wants to see legislative changes to give his organization more power to speed up investigations.

They also created a sexual safety center both for victims and witnesses of inappropriate behaviour.

It can be hard to hear allegations like Lucy and Ellie’s, which contrast their stories with a service where most people are dedicated to saving lives.

But it is also clear that for far too long abusers and those who commit inappropriate sexual behavior have operated with impunity in the ambulance service. Some may have been protected by beliefs or cover-ups, many others simply hid behind the veneer of “battle”.

Ambulance and NHS bosses have made it clear to Sky News that they are determined not just to stamp out the perpetrators of serious sexual violence, but to stamp out the culture that breeds this behaviour.

But in the meantime, women like Lucy, Ellie and countless others will not hear an ambulance siren and feel unsafe, telling us they would struggle to even call 999 in the event of a medical emergency.

*names have been changed

Illustrations by Rebecca Hendin

Anyone feeling emotionally disturbed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritens branch in your area. or at 1 (800) 273-TALK