London Ambulance Service crews and call handlers face sexual abuse every day while helping patients across the capital.
Colleagues reported 462 incidents in the 12 months from July 2025 to July 2026, including sexual threats, groping, indecent exposure, explicit comments and sexual violence.
The abuse is not limited to colleagues treating patients face to face. Almost a third of the reports came from call handlers who were sexually abused by callers while trying to help them over the phone.
Jason Killens KAM, Chief Executive of London Ambulance Service, vowed to tackle the abuse.
He said:
“We show up when London needs us. In return, we are asking Londoners to show some respect. Sexual violence, comments, threats, touching and exposure are abuse. This disgusting behaviour disrupts emergency care, can take ambulance crews off the road and our call handlers away from their station, which may delay help reaching other patients. It has to stop.
“If you see such behaviour, call it out. If you are asked to give evidence by police after an incident, your testimony might help ensure the perpetrators face the consequences of their actions.
“This is not part of the job and we will never treat it as such. Where a crime has been committed, we will work with the police and push for prosecution. We show up. Show some respect.”
Paramedic Gosha Graf was assessing a patient when he groped her and then refused further care. When she read his notes, she discovered that he had sexually assaulted another paramedic earlier that day after also refusing treatment.
She called the police and the man was jailed for 18 weeks for sexual assault in March this year.
Gosha, who says she endures sexist or sexualised comments most days when on duty, said:
“I was trying to help him when he grabbed me and I remember thinking, ‘Why does anyone have to put up with this just for doing their job?’
“But what made it worse was finding out he had already done something similar to another paramedic that day. This is not harmless behaviour and it should not be brushed off. This man called 999 to abuse us.”
‘We show up. Show some respect.’
London Ambulance Service has launched its “We show up. Show some respect” campaign in response to the shocking scale of sexual abuse faced by ambulance crews and call handlers, amid concerns that many more incidents go unreported. A video released today uses ambulance CCTV and body-worn camera footage to expose the sexualised comments and inappropriate touching colleagues experience while trying to help patients. Much of the abuse our staff endure was too graphic to share, with swear words, explicit language and threatening behaviour running through these types of interactions.
Chief Paramedic Pauline Cranmer QAM said:
“Every day one of our colleagues reports abuse of this kind – and yet we know these reports still underestimate the true scale of what they face.
“The NHS Staff Survey goes even further. Almost two-thirds of women working on ambulances said they had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour from patients, service users, relatives or other members of the public in the previous 12 months.
“More than one in five frontline ambulance colleagues who reported unwanted sexual behaviour in the NHS Staff Survey said it had happened at least three times during the year.
“We come to work to help others – that care never stops. To respond with sexual abuse is a shocking betrayal. We will not accept it, excuse it or allow offenders to believe they can target our people without consequence.”
London Ambulance Service was the first ambulance trust in the UK to introduce a dedicated Violence Reduction Unit. The team supports colleagues from the moment an incident is reported, helps to collate evidence and liaises with police and prosecutors as cases progress. Ambulances are fitted with CCTV and audio recording equipment and crews can wear body-worn cameras, which can provide crucial evidence when offences are investigated. The Service also reviews incident reports to identify patterns and repeat offenders and uses that information to strengthen prevention and support.
London Ambulance Service is calling on police and the wider criminal justice system to use the full powers available when ambulance colleagues are targeted.
Earlier this year, the law was strengthened to protect women from sex-based harassment. A man was jailed for three months for harassing London paramedic Ella Johnson in the Metropolitan Police’s first conviction under the new law.