THERE were more than 150 reports of sexual assaults at hospitals made to Devon and Cornwall Police in the last three years, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

Since 2022, the force received 153 reports of sexual assault at NHS hospitals in the South West, the FOI shows.

There were 24 reports of rape in the same time period.

There were more than 35,000 incidents of sexual misconduct or sexual violence - ranging from derogatory remarks to rape - recorded on NHS premises in England between 2017 and 2022.

Rape, sexual assault or being touched without consent accounted for more than one in five cases.

Most incidents - 58 percent - involved patients abusing staff, the BBC reported.