An NHS nurse has waived her anonymity to speak out about the treatment her claims of sexual harassment and assault were met with by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.In an exclusive report, Rebecca Thomas reveals how Michelle Russell has had to battle over eight years for her allegations to be addressed and how some NHS workers are finding it difficult to report issues at work.Watch On The Ground on Independent TV on desktop, mobile and connected TV.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:05 You know, that's my career, everything I've ever worked for.
00:08 I feel like I'm the one that people are avoiding.
00:14 I'm the one that's excluded.
00:16 Feels like I'm the one that's done something wrong.
00:21 It shouldn't have to cost me my career,
00:23 but if that's what it costs, I'm going to have to deal with that.
00:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:37 In 2015, NHS nurse Michelle Russell
00:41 took her first steps to report claims of sexual assault
00:44 and harassment by a colleague to her employer.
00:47 Michelle thought her case would be investigated and dealt
00:49 with immediately.
00:51 However, eight years later, she's
00:52 still fighting for her voice to be heard by the UK's nursing
00:56 regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
00:58 I was working at a site that I didn't usually work at.
01:05 And I knew this particular man by sight.
01:10 I'd never had a conversation with him.
01:14 And I had to do a piece of project work, which
01:18 meant I had to spend a lot of time at this other site.
01:24 And very quickly, from never speaking to this man,
01:33 he seemed to be constantly around me.
01:39 He persisted.
01:40 And when I told my manager, I just
01:44 thought she'd deal with it.
01:46 I thought she'd speak to him and that she
01:48 would have a word with him.
01:51 And I really thought that that's what would happen.
01:54 But it clearly didn't happen.
01:56 And I became unwell.
02:01 After a year-long investigation,
02:03 the North East London Foundation Trust
02:05 dismissed her claims.
02:07 I've just wanted to do the right thing
02:11 and protect my patients and the public and my colleagues.
02:16 But what's happened is somehow I feel like I'm the one
02:21 that people are avoiding.
02:25 I'm the one that's excluded.
02:26 Feels like I'm the one that's done something wrong when
02:33 all I've done is raise my concerns.
02:36 I mean, I have been insistent.
02:39 And I have been persistent.
02:42 But that's because there's a public safety issue.
02:48 Michelle didn't want to give up.
02:49 And her perseverance saw a chance encounter
02:52 with the NHS's most senior nurse in 2017.
02:56 And I thought, I need to do something.
02:58 I can't go on like this.
03:02 And I got on a train.
03:04 I wrote a big banner saying I'm a nurse.
03:08 I've been sexually assaulted.
03:10 And I'm going to lose my job.
03:12 And I was just so upset.
03:15 And I'm going to lose my job.
03:17 And I got on a train.
03:18 And I went and stood outside the Houses of Parliament.
03:24 It was freezing.
03:26 It was a very cold, rainy day.
03:29 And then there was somebody that I
03:33 could see hanging around who wanted to speak to me
03:37 and came over and spoke to me.
03:39 And she said, do you know who I am?
03:41 And I said, no, I don't.
03:43 I'm sorry.
03:44 And she said, I'm Ruth May.
03:47 And at that point, I think Ruth was deputy chief nurse.
03:57 And she said to me, you can put your banner away.
04:02 This is who I am.
04:05 I want you to email me.
04:08 And I'll arrange for you to come up for a meeting, which
04:14 she did, she did.
04:16 And I went up.
04:17 And I had a meeting at Waterloo with Ruth.
04:21 And I explained what had happened to me
04:25 and how it had been handled by the trust.
04:29 And that same day, Ruth contacted the chief executive,
04:33 who at that point had just not responded to any communication
04:42 from me at all.
04:43 And Ruth emailed him and told him
04:50 that there needed to be an independent investigation
04:54 and that she was suggesting that he used two particular names
05:03 that she proposed to do the investigation.
05:08 And then that independent investigation happened.
05:12 This review, finished in 2018, found
05:15 Northeast London Foundation Trust's
05:16 original investigation was catastrophically flawed
05:19 and that the trust didn't even understand its own policy
05:22 on sexual harassment.
05:24 This report, seen by the independent,
05:27 also reveals the hospital was aware of other allegations
05:30 against the same nurse.
05:32 A dossier of documents obtained throughout her eight-year
05:35 ordeal revealed the NMC rejected the original referral made
05:39 by Michelle against her alleged perpetrator in 2016.
05:43 Following the July 2018 review, the regulator
05:46 reopened the case, however only heard it last year,
05:50 in July 2023.
05:52 An NMC fitness to practice panel found that three allegations
05:55 by Michelle could not be proved.
05:57 For the first allegation over touching,
05:59 panel found there was not enough evidence
06:01 to establish on balance of probabilities
06:03 that the incidents had occurred.
06:04 In the two other allegations of him poking out his tongue
06:07 and him pressing his groin against her back,
06:09 it said there was not enough evidence to prove the charges.
06:12 But another person's allegations of inappropriate comments
06:16 were upheld.
06:17 On the 7th of December, 2023, the male nurse
06:20 was cautioned by the panel.
06:22 Just a week later, the NMC reviewed its decision,
06:25 finding concerns over the panel's failure
06:27 to uphold Michelle's allegations.
06:29 In a statement to the independent,
06:31 NELF said it had accepted the findings of the investigations
06:33 in full and taken the issues raised by Michelle
06:36 extremely seriously, and said as a result,
06:39 it had put in place new sexual safety policies
06:42 and improved its oversight and training.
06:44 It said it had responded to all questions from the NMC
06:46 in a timely manner and claimed it had no formal complaints
06:50 from patients or family members over the alleged perpetrator.
06:53 The NMC said it had apologised directly to Miss Russell
06:56 that this case took too long.
06:58 They said they considered the evidence carefully
07:00 and decided there was no case to answer
07:02 and made that case at the hearing.
07:04 They acknowledged that the panel's finding
07:05 was very distressing for Miss Russell.
07:07 As a result, the NMC has referred itself
07:09 to its own regulator, the Professional Standards Authority,
07:13 on the basis that its decision was not sufficient
07:15 to protect the public.
07:17 I mean, it's nearly a decade of my life.
07:19 I've...
07:21 I mean, we all age.
07:23 But I really feel as if I've lost a whole chunk of my life.
07:29 Um...
07:31 I won't get that back.
07:33 It's absolutely obliterated my career.
07:39 Um...
07:42 Something that I loved was, you know,
07:46 all I'd ever wanted to be was a nurse.
07:49 I think there seems to be a method that,
07:55 having spoken to other NHS whistleblowers,
07:59 there seems to be a method that's rolled out
08:03 of dealing with people that raise concerns.
08:07 And it is incredibly damaging.
08:10 (Piano music)
08:13 (Music fades)
08:16 (gentle music)