Dear Colleagues
All employers have a legal duty to prevent sexual harassment (Worker Protection Act 2023) and from September 2026 will be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace (Employment Rights Act 2025). For Primary Care providers, the aim of this legal duty is to support patient and primary care staff safety.
We note that the following proposed actions for practices are not mandated but are hopefully helpful for those Practices who have not yet taken the legal steps that became an employer’s duty last autumn.
NHS England has written to all ICBs to ask them to take a series of action to support sexual safety in the NHS workplace NHS England » An update on actions to prevent sexual misconduct in the NHS
To support you in meeting this legal duty, NHS England has developed guidance and support specifically for primary care providers: general practice, community pharmacy, optometry and dental providers. The latest information for primary care has been incorporated into this letter to all providers, published in December 2025 – https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/an-update-on-actions-to-prevent-sexual-misconduct-in-the-nhs/
NHS England has requested that all Primary Care Providers take the following actions:
- Sign up to the principles of the NHS Sexual Safety Charter – this was first published in September 2024 and sets out 10 principles for employers: NHS England » Sexual safety in healthcare – organisational charter
- Complete a primary care Sexual Safety Charter self-assurance checklist which recognize differing organizational sizes: PRN02280-annex-b-sexual-safety-carter-self-assurance-checklist-for-primary-care-providers.docx. This will help you identify areas to focus on, in order to meet your legal duty and includes different considerations for small, medium and large primary care providers. At the end of the checklist is a template action plan for you to use to identify and prioritise areas for development. Documenting your self-assessment can be useful in evidencing compliance with your legal duty to take reasonable steps.
- Please complete this short online form, which is how you sign up to the Sexual Safety Charter by Tuesday 31st March 2026.
As you develop your approach to meeting this legal duty, there are a number of actions and resources you can consider in the future:
- Have in place a sexual misconduct policy that staff can access. A template policy for primary care providers to use is being developed by the NHSE national team.
- Ask your staff to complete this e-learning for health sexual safety awareness module
- Review your chaperone policy in line with the new principles published at the beginning of December 2025. Support material for primary care providers is also being developed for this.
- Ensure reporting to NHSE and applicable regulators i.e. Care Quality Commission is included in our incident management.
NHSE is engaging with your national professional representative bodies.
If you have any questions about the content of this email or need support in completing the online form, please contact us at england.swdental@nhs.net
If there are technical questions about the Charter or Checklist, we will liaise with the national NHSE team or our ICB Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) lead.
We hope that you find this resource helpful in understanding and meeting your legal duties relating to Sexual Safety as an NHS organisation.
Kind regards
Dental Services South West
NHS SW Collaborative Commissioning Hub
Hosted by NHS Somerset ICB, working on behalf of all Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in the South West Region:
CIOS, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, BNSSG, BSW and Gloucestershire.