A senior nurse was struck off over allegations of sexual assault and harassment, after a colleague reported him to a regulator when a hospital refused to refer her case.
The colleague, additionally an NHS nurse, first raised a complaint against Niyi Okegbola with managers at South London and Maudsley NHS Hospital 4 years in the past, alleging he sexually assaulted her on belief premises.
However after an 18-month investigation, the colleague, Holly*, was advised the case in opposition to Mr Okegbola “didn’t meet the edge”, and he can be returning to work.
She then referred the matter to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which struck off Mr Okegbola after discovering 35 completely different allegations confirmed in opposition to him over actions that have been “sexually motivated” towards her and 4 different employees from 2019 to 2022.
The NMC tribunal discovered it was extra doubtless than not that he had touched or tried to the touch the breasts of two folks working on the Belief.
The panel added he had “breached skilled boundaries” on quite a few events and “repeatedly [harassed] a couple of colleague over a protracted time period.
Talking for the primary time since Mr Okgebola was struck off, Holly has accused SLAM of getting a “tradition of acceptance” and failing to guard feminine employees.
Holly, whose title has been modified, advised The Unbiased, “There’s a full lack of knowledge about this stuff taking place within the NHS. It’s very a lot hidden beneath the carpet, I felt like they [the trust] didn’t know find out how to deal with this…
“I assumed, if this was taking place to our ward, what was taking place elsewhere. If this can be a extremely esteemed belief, what likelihood have you ever acquired with others… It looks like a large let-down from the belief. As extremely esteemed as they are saying they’re.”
After being left at the hours of darkness, in 2022, Holly was advised Okegbola can be given a proper warning over his actions however can be returning to work the place he was accountable for the care of younger, mentally unwell kids and grownup sufferers.
“I used to be indignant and fairly let down as a result of I skilled in that belief, and it was my first expertise of being in a psychological well being belief, and I had them in such excessive regard. It shocked me. My thought then what the hell does represent a referral to the NMC… They didn’t really feel it met the edge to be disclosed to the NMC. So, I reported him,” she advised The Unbiased.
Proof seen by The Unbiased reveals belief officers in January 2022 mentioned NMC referral “was mentioned at size and no advice was made to refer right now.”
Holly’s referral sparked a two-year probe by the NMC throughout which period 4 different girls got here ahead with accusations in opposition to Mr Okegbola, and through a listening to in October 2024, the nurse was struck off.
Accusations proved, included a remark by the senior nurse in 2018 a few 14-year-old mentally unwell feminine affected person “She is the kind of lady you suppose you’ll be able to method and rape however would flip round and kill the person due to her power.’”
In the course of the listening to, the NMC panel advised Mr Okebola, “There was proof suggestive of a tradition throughout the Belief of accepting a few of your behaviour.”
A number of of the employees members in the course of the NMC listening to mentioned they feared they’d not be taken significantly and revealed they’d not acquired any assist from the belief.
Holly advised The Unbiased she additionally reported the incident to the police however was advised “it was a belief challenge.”
“They mentioned this wanted to be handled by the belief because it occurred on the belief’s premises,” she mentioned.
Holly is without doubt one of the tens of 1000’s of NHS employees members who declare to have been failed by the well being service in addressing sexual harassment inside its ranks.
Final 12 months, following a sequence of tales by The Unbiased, former NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard pledged to stamp out sexual harassment within the NHS.
Figures in March 2025 present 27,085 – 3.66 per cent – of NHS employees members reported they’d skilled no less than one incident of undesirable sexual behaviour. In South London and Maudsley NHS Basis Belief, 4.06 per cent of employees, answering this query, mentioned sure.
In the meantime, new figures present South London and Maudsley NHS Basis Belief was recognized final 12 months as an outlier on sexual security in a nationwide survey of trainee employees.
Alison Millar, a lawyer at Leigh Day representing Holly, mentioned: “Having completed a variety of these circumstances now, I do really feel there’s a actual challenge with healthcare organisations tolerating this sort of behaviour
“It’s actually unacceptable that this occurred in 2021. Clearly, consciousness on this space is rising, however 2021 is just not that way back. For some time, NHS trusts have been required to develop sexual security insurance policies. It’s unacceptable if trusts don’t know what to do. They’re imagined to have sexual security insurance policies in place. How can it not meet the edge for NMC referral?”
A spokesperson for South London and Maudsley NHS Basis Belief mentioned: “We condemn the abhorrent actions of Niyi Sunday Okegbola, which don’t have any place throughout the NHS. Mr Okegbola is not an worker of the belief.”
The belief mentioned it supported the NMC in its investigation and strongly endorsed his placing off.
“We’re shocked and deeply saddened by what occurred. We’ve got reached out to employees impacted by this particular person’s actions with our sincerest apologies and proceed to make accessible skilled assist and counselling.”
The belief mentioned it had discovered from the case and has actively labored in recent times to strengthen its employees assist.
NMC confirmed that it was in touch with the belief as soon as the matter was raised with it. Nonetheless, it didn’t verify whether or not this communication was earlier than the preliminary referral or after this.
Paul Johnson, Deputy Director of Skilled Regulation on the Nursing and Midwifery Council, mentioned: “Our steering clearly states that the place there are considerations of sexual misconduct by a nurse, midwife or nursing affiliate, employers ought to make a referral to us.”
“We encourage employers to interact with our Employer Hyperlink Service by talking with our skilled Regulation Advisers – they may assist employers to grasp if and when it is acceptable to make a referral to us. We take all allegations of sexual misconduct very significantly, and our knowledge present that the place expenses are discovered proved at a listening to, the commonest sanction handed down by panels is a placing off order.”
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