NHS worker 'had Nazi flag and picture of Hitler in the background of video call'

Metro

28-04-2025

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An NHS worker joined a video call with Nazi paraphernalia clearly visible in the background, according to a whistleblower colleague.
A recording of the call – which was part of a South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) meeting – shows a man in his home office with a large Nazi flag leaning against the wall behind him.
There is also a framed picture of Hitler on a shelf and a swastika armband on a bookcase.
His colleague Amelia – not her real name -was also on the call and said that when she reported what she had seen she was ostracised by other staff and bags of dog poo were left outside her home.
The video, released by Sky News, comes at the same time as a SECAmb staff survey revealed claims of a culture of discrimination and bullying among staff.
Sky News also shared an interview with a 65-year-old woman, Juliette, who said a private paramedic working with SECAmb sexually assaulted her in 2021.
She claimed he put his hand down her cycle shorts while she was in an ambulance after a cycling accident.
Talking about the video call meanwhile, Amelia, who is a manager at the trust, said she and colleagues had been in a meeting about staffing levels, when the fellow manager joined them from home.
She said: 'I kept looking around the room thinking, 'why is no one saying anything?'… When I spoke to people afterwards they said: 'Oh yeah… he's always been into Nazi stuff'.'
Amelia said she initially tried to report what she'd seen anonymously but was told she had to identify herself and put in a formal grievance for the matter to be investigated.
She claims when she did this, she was isolated by her colleagues, frozen out of meetings and uninvited to team events, adding that it killed her career.
An independent report concluded there wasn't enough evidence to prove she had been excluded deliberately.
A separate report, seen by Sky News, found the manager's 'inappropriate behaviour' should have been challenged, however, he still works for SECAmb.
Amelia said police looked into at her video complaint at one point and days later she 'had bags of dog faeces on my doorstep'.
'That went on for a few days,' she explained.
Juliette, meanwhile, says she has spent four years trying to get SECAmb to listen to her claims she was sexually assaulted by the paramedic.
The grandmother was hit by a car as she was cycling through Surrey and recalls lying on a stretcher, frightened to move in case she was paralysed.
Two paramedics spent around 90 minutes carrying out assessments before taking her to hospital in an ambulance.
Once inside the ambulance, Juliette was left alone with one of the paramedics, who said he needed to check her hips.
She said he then, without asking, opened her shorts up with his left hand and put his right hand into her cycling shorts, between her legs.
She claimed he then stared into her eyes, while she temporarily froze, terrified of what he might do.
'I felt so uncomfortable. Shamed, frightened, shocked. I didn't want it to continue,' she said.
Juliette said her brain eventually 'snapped into place' and she moved her legs, at which point he moved his hand and sat behind her in silence for the rest of the trip.
She reported the incident to the Met Police the next day, but she was told it was her word against his, so there was little chance of a successful prosecution.
She said she then contacted SECAmb, but had to wait months for a response and when she did hear back was effectively told the assault did not happen.
In a letter seen by Sky News, they said she removed the shorts herself and gave consent for an examination after complaining of a pain in her leg.
Juliette said this account is completely false and has made her feel insulted, betrayed and humiliated.
She said she is speaking out now to help something similar happening again.
The SECAmb survey was carried out by the union GMB, who asked 4.000 staff about their working environment.
GMB said that out of the 900 who responded, many spoke of a culture of discrimination towards women staff members, including sexual harassment, bullying and a general 'boys' club' culture.
Around a quarter of those surveyed said they had experienced bullying, while the same proportion had witnessed inappropriate conduct.
Sixteen per cent had witnessed racism, meanwhile, while 17.2 had seen sexual harassment.
And 80% did not feel confident SECAmb would support them if they reported concerning behaviour.
Lib Whitfield, a senior GMB organiser, said she has been working with the trust for eight years and the culture is now the 'worst it's ever been'.
She said she receives calls every day from members who are suicidal.
Ms Whitfield said there needs to be a full independent investigation into the culture of SECAmb that results in actions and not just words.
The union is also calling for the resignation of the current executive.
SECAmb posted a response to the Sky News story on its website.
The statement said: 'We take the welfare of our people, and our patients seriously and fully investigated the historic cases covered in a Sky News report today. This included independent external reviews, commissioned by our Chief Executive.
'And while we recognise that as a Trust and a sector there remains more to be done to improve our culture, we do not believe the concerns raised by the GMB reflect how most of our staff tell us it feels to work at SECAmb now. More Trending
'This is reflected in the results of the most recent national NHS Staff Survey, completed anonymously by record numbers of SECAmb colleagues, (3,268), and which demonstrated significant improvements across all key themes.'
The statement added that of those who responded to the survey, 60% said they felt safe to speak out about anything that concerned them, up from 45% in 2022.
It continued: 'In the last two years, we have invested significantly in our Freedom to Speak Up service, have rolled out Trust-wide awareness training and a highly visible sexual safety campaign and have reviewed and improved how we deal with harassment of any kind.'
The trust said it remains committed to working with its unions to make further improvements but said this could only happen with 'meaningful and constructive collaboration'.
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