Ambulance staff face daily sexual abuse, report finds
Hundreds of incidents reported in a year, with women on ambulances disproportionately affected.
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The central claim is attributed to the London Ambulance Service, with specific figures and a named individual quoted.
How well corroborated and evidenced the reporting is. Higher is better.
The article clearly separates fact from comment, provides specific figures and dates, and explains what happens next.
Context, balance and separation of fact from comment. Higher is better.
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Crews and call handlers working for the London Ambulance Service (LAS) are facing sexual abuse with alarming frequency, according to recent reports. The abuse includes sexual threats, groping, indecent exposure, explicit comments, and sexual violence. Almost a third of emergency phone operators have experienced sexual harassment, while paramedics report physical sexual abuse in addition to inappropriate comments made almost daily.
In the 12 months between July 2025 and July 2026, staff reported a total of 462 incidents of sexual abuse. The data indicates that almost two-thirds of women working on ambulances experienced unwanted sexual behaviour from patients, their relatives, or other members of the public during the previous 12 months. Furthermore, more than one in five frontline ambulance colleagues who reported unwanted sexual behaviour in the NHS Staff Survey indicated that such incidents occurred at least three times within the year.
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Impact on Emergency Services
Jason Killens, chief executive of LAS, stated that this behaviour disrupts emergency care and can lead to ambulance crews being taken off the road or call handlers being diverted from their stations. This, he warned, could delay help reaching other patients. He emphasised that such conduct must cease and encouraged witnesses to report it, noting that testimony can help ensure perpetrators face consequences. Chief paramedic Pauline Cranmer added that the service will not accept, excuse, or allow offenders to believe they can target staff without repercovery.
Paramedic Gosha Graf shared her experience of being groped by a patient while assessing him, only to discover later that the same individual had sexually assaulted another paramedic earlier that day. Following her report, the man was jailed for 18 weeks for sexual assault in March this year. In a separate case, a man received a three-month jail sentence for harassing London paramedic Ella Johnson, marking the Metropolitan Police's first conviction under a new law strengthened earlier this year to protect women from sex-based harassment.
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Campaign for Respect
The LAS campaign, 'We show up. Show some respect', highlights the issue through visual media, including footage from ambulance CCTV and body-worn cameras. These recordings capture the sexualised comments and inappropriate touching that crews endure while providing care, sometimes even within the ambulance itself. The service maintains that this behaviour is not part of the job and will never be treated as such.
Questions this report answers
+How often are London Ambulance Service staff subjected to sexual abuse?
London Ambulance Service crews and call handlers report facing sexual abuse almost daily. This includes a range of behaviours from inappropriate comments to sexual violence.
+How many incidents of sexual abuse were reported in a year?
In the 12 months from July 2025 to July 2026, staff at the London Ambulance Service reported a total of 462 incidents of sexual abuse.
+What proportion of female ambulance staff experienced unwanted sexual behaviour?
Almost two-thirds of women working on ambulances reported experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour from patients, service users, relatives, or other members of the public in the previous 12 months.
+What are the consequences of this behaviour for emergency services?
The London Ambulance Service states that this behaviour disrupts emergency care, can remove staff from duty, and potentially delay assistance to other patients.
WE FILE
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The London Travel Desk assembled this report from the outlets listed below. Language-model drafting is reviewed under human editorial supervision, with scoring notes and corrections kept visible.
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