NHS trust declined to refer nurse to the Nursing and Midwifery Council over sexual assault and harassment allegations

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, also an NHS nurse, first raised a complaint against Niyi Okegbola with managers at South London and Maudsley NHS Hospital four years ago, alleging he sexually assaulted her on trust premises.

But after an 18-month investigation, the colleague, Holly*, was told the case against Mr Okegbola “did not meet the threshold”, and he would be returning to work.

She then referred the matter to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which struck off Mr Okegbola after finding 35 different allegations proven against him over actions that were “sexually motivated” toward her and four other staff from 2019 to 2022.

The NMC tribunal found it was more likely than not that he had touched or attempted to touch the breasts of two people working at the Trust.

The panel added he had “breached professional boundaries” on numerous occasions and “repeatedly [harassed] more than one colleague over a prolonged period of time.

Speaking for the first time since Mr Okgebola was struck off, Holly has accused SLAM of having a “culture of acceptance” and failing to protect female staff.

Holly, whose name has been changed, told The Independent, “There is a complete lack of awareness about these things happening in the NHS. It’s very much hidden under the carpet, I felt like they [the trust] didn’t know how to handle this…

“I thought, if this was happening to our ward, what was happening elsewhere. If this is a highly esteemed trust, what chance have you got with others… It feels like a massive let-down from the trust. As highly esteemed as they say they are.”

After being left in the dark, in 2022, Holly was told Okegbola would be given a formal warning over his actions but would be returning to work where he was responsible for the care of young, mentally unwell children and adult patients.

“I was angry and quite let down because I trained in that trust, and it was my first experience of being in a mental health trust, and I had them in such high regard. It shocked me. My thought then what the hell does constitute a referral to the NMC… They didn’t feel it met the threshold to be disclosed to the NMC. So, I reported him,” she told The Independent.

Evidence seen by The Independent shows trust officials in January 2022 said NMC referral “was discussed at length and no recommendation was made to refer at this time.”

Holly’s referral sparked a two-year probe by the NMC during which time four other women came forward with accusations against Mr Okegbola, and during a hearing in October 2024, the nurse was struck off.

Accusations proved, included a comment by the senior nurse in 2018 about a 14-year-old mentally unwell female patient “She is the type of girl you think you can approach and rape but would turn around and kill the man because of her strength.’”

During the hearing, the NMC panel told Mr Okebola, “There was evidence suggestive of a culture within the Trust of accepting some of your behaviour.”

Several of the staff members during the NMC hearing said they feared they would not be taken seriously and revealed they had not received any support from the trust.

Holly told The Independent she also reported the incident to the police but was told “it was a trust issue.”

“They said this needed to be dealt with by the trust as it happened on the trust’s premises,” she said.

Holly is one of the tens of thousands of NHS staff members who claim to have been failed by the health service in addressing sexual harassment within its ranks.

Last year, following a series of stories by The Independent, former NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard pledged to stamp out sexual harassment in the NHS.

Figures in March 2025 show 27,085 – 3.66 per cent – of NHS staff members reported they had experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual behaviour. In South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, 4.06 per cent of staff, answering this question, said yes.

Meanwhile, new figures show South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust was identified last year as an outlier on sexual safety in a national survey of trainee staff.

Alison Millar, a lawyer at Leigh Day representing Holly, said: “Having done a number of these cases now, I do feel there is a real issue with healthcare organisations tolerating this kind of behaviour

“It’s really unacceptable that this happened in 2021. Clearly, awareness in this area is growing, but 2021 is not that long ago. For a while, NHS trusts have been required to develop sexual safety policies. It is unacceptable if trusts don’t know what to do. They are supposed to have sexual safety policies in place. How can it not meet the threshold for NMC referral?”

A spokesperson for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said: “We condemn the abhorrent actions of Niyi Sunday Okegbola, which have no place within the NHS. Mr Okegbola is no longer an employee of the trust.”

The trust said it supported the NMC in its investigation and strongly endorsed his striking off.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened by what happened. We have reached out to staff impacted by this individual’s actions with our sincerest apologies and continue to make available professional support and counselling.”

The trust said it had learned from the case and has actively worked in recent years to strengthen its staff support.

NMC confirmed that it was in contact with the trust once the matter was raised with it. However, it did not confirm whether this communication was before the initial referral or after this.

Paul Johnson, Deputy Director of Professional Regulation at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “Our guidance clearly states that where there are concerns of sexual misconduct by a nurse, midwife or nursing associate, employers should make a referral to us.”

“We encourage employers to engage with our Employer Link Service by speaking with our experienced Regulation Advisers – they will support employers to understand if and when it’s appropriate to make a referral to us. We take all allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously, and our data show that where charges are found proved at a hearing, the most common sanction handed down by panels is a striking off order.”