What this service is

This service aims to provide a safe place for ambulance staff and student paramedics to talk after they’ve experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour including:

• Sexually inappropriate behaviour dismissed as ‘banter’
• Sexual harassment or assault
• Sexual coercion/bullying
• Sexually inappropriate behaviour due to your sexuality or gender

No matter where or when it happened, or who the perpetrator was, TASC is here to listen. Anything you tell us will remain private and confidential. We won’t pressure you to talk, and you’ll remain in control the entire time.

What this service isn’t

• We’re not an advocacy service. We’re here to listen, not advise.
• We’re not a counselling service. The people you speak to have extensive experience supporting ambulance workers, but they’re not qualified counsellors.
• We’re not going to report your experience or force you to report your experience. We can provide you with information to help you do this if you wish, but the choice is yours. Anything you tell us will remain private and confidential.

What happens when you call us

1. Your call will be picked up by a trained TASC team member.
2. You will be asked some basic questions such as your name, location, job role and a phone number. These are for our own notes and won’t be shared with your employer.
3. We’ll then ask you what you want to talk about. Our team members are trained to listen to help you process what you’ve experienced. We’ll never pressure you to talk, and we’ll never judge you.

If appropriate, and you’re willing, we may also be able to give you links to other places where you could get support or the details of your trust’s Freedom To Speak Up Guardian.

How we may use your data

Your personal data will be kept private and confidential, and in line with GDPR regulations.

One person experiencing sexual violence is too many. That’s why we hope to help the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) shape ambulance policy. One way we may do this is by providing collective data from the calls we receive. We’re not contractually obliged to do this, and any information we choose to provide will be grouped and anonymous to protect your confidentiality.

Freedom To Speak Up Guardians

All organisations that provide services under the NHS Standard Contract are required to appoint a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian.

The role was created in 2015 in response to recommendations in “The Freedom to Speak Up” report which found that the NHS didn’t encourage or support workers to speak up if something wasn’t right.

Today, Guardians are impartial and help workers to speak up when they feel they’re unable to do so by other routes.

If you’ve experienced a sexual safety issue and want to raise it with your employer, but are unsure how to do it, where to start, or are uncomfortable doing so, your Freedom To Speak Up Guardian may be a good place to start.

NHS ambulance consensus statement

The NHS England Sexual Safety Charter was established in 2023, outlining ten principles and actions to help create a zero-tolerance approach to unwanted, inappropriate or harmful sexual behaviours in the workplace. Every ambulance service in England has signed the charter.

Shortly after, England’s Chief Allied Health Professions Officer launched the national Reducing Misogyny & Improving Sexual Safey in the Ambulance Service programme and consensus statement. The programme set out three key principles:

1. Focus on protecting ambulance staff from experiences of misogyny and inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature
2. Remove barriers of speaking up and provide appropriate support for those affected
3. Work towards an inclusive culture where all staff understand misogyny and come to work feeling sexually safe

All ambulance services have agreed and committed to the programme and consensus statement.

AACE’s work

AACE, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, is working to change inappropriate and outdated culture to create a safer environment for patients and staff.

• They’ve set up the National Ambulance Sexual Safety Community of Practice. Made up of staff members from HR, Safeguarding, Freedom to Speak Up and Violence and Prevention roles, the community provides space for best practice sharing and for opportunities to speak to people with lived experience
• AACE established the sector’s first people professional development programme to improve the capability and confidence of colleagues responsible for advising on sexual safety-related concerns at work
• To ensure top-down learning, AACE has committed to delivering a learning session to every ambulance service board in the UK as well as providing the board with regular updates from AACE’s Reducing Misogyny programme and setting out expectations for board
• AACE have also established a student paramedic advisory panel to ensure the student perspective and voice is represented