Abuse thrives in the dark corners of unmonitored wards and bedrooms – we must throw harsh light on hospitals

Editorial: Each NHS trust should be required to report and publish on at least an annual basis an independently audited account of the number of allegations made against it, actions taken, and outcomes achieved

An exposé by The Independent revealed that there had been almost 20,000 allegations of sexual assault and harassment on mental health wards in the past five years (Getty)

Such is the nature of the crimes, we may never know the true extent of the sexual abuse of vulnerable people in mental health hospitals. But collaborative investigations by The Independent and Sky News do go some way to tracing the extent of the scandal – and it is far wider than previously supposed.

Recently, an exposé by The Independent revealed that there had been almost 20,000 allegations of sexual assault and harassment on mental health wards in the past five years. Now we can add to that grim, almost unimaginable scale of callousness and human misery a further 4,000 such cases – which have been reported by patients and staff in private hospitals. Given that many of the victims are in a poor position to press their complaints, and the usual institutional instinct is to ignore, deny, and then cover up such incidents, it may be safely assumed that this total of 24,000 or so incidents is an underestimate – and quite possibly a grievous one.

The allegations, of which there are so many, seem well corroborated. The clinical negligence firm Leigh Day, a major player in the field, has said that across the cases it sees, NHS trusts are negligent – not only of those in their care, but towards their statutory duties under the European Convention of Human Rights (which would require them to ensure allegations of sexual harm are “coherently investigated”).