NHS mixed-sex wards anger
Friday 9th January 2009, 1:00PM GMT.
NHS patients across Shropshire are still facing the daily indignity of being treated in mixed-sex hospital wards, new figures revealed today.
Data obtained by the Conservatives under the Freedom of Information Act shows that many trusts are unable to fully meet Government guidelines on eliminating mixed-sex accommodation on hospital wards.
The Tories received responses from 132 acute hospital trusts – including the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust – and 55 mental health trusts across England.
The information shows trusts are using partitions and curtains to separate men and women, despite the fact this is not allowed.
Nationally nearly three quarters of hospitals are still using mixed-sex accommodation and guidelines on segregated washing and toilet facilities are being broken by nearly a third.
There were about 1,000 complaints last year from patients about “undignified treatment” and breach of privacy.
Standards
But today the Shrewsbury and Telford Trust claimed the Royal Shrewsbury and Telford’s Princess Royal were compliant with national standards for single sex accommodation.
“Notwithstanding this, improving patient safety and patient experience is our top priority as a trust,” said Sam Foster, head of nursing practice.
“We are constantly looking for ways to improve privacy and dignity.
“Single-sex accommodation can take a number of forms. This includes single-sex wards, single-sex multi-bedded bays, single sex side rooms and single rooms. Our hospitals provide a combination of these different types of accommodation.”
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: “Patients have enough to worry about when they go into hospital without having to suffer the indignity of being placed in accommodation that affords them too little privacy at such a sensitive time.
“Despite hearing Labour ministers make promise after to promise to end the scandal of mixed sex wards, we have not seen the necessary action and they continue to blight our hospitals.”
By Dave Morris
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This was supposed to be a thing of the past and also a pledge in the Labour manifesto, but then again so was a vote on Europe.
Thanks Bliar and Clown
Things can only get better!!!!
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I had to stay in a female bay ( I am male) on ward 6 at the PRH after a short stay in ward 7. I never enjoyed myself more with all the gossip, jokes and being looked after by the ladies in there, I was nearly sorry to be moved in with the lads. As long as you repect their privacy and look the other way when needed, all I care about is the proper medical treatment.
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I can’t see the problem. At least they’re not having mixed wards of humans and animals.
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When male and female are equal in the modern age I do not see why mix wards are such a bad thing
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wohoo another Tory press release dressed up as news by the Star. Maybe a name change to the Shropshire Daily Mail would be in order?
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I agree with you all, what happened to equal rights, equality diversity, everyone should be treated the same. What if the only ward is a womens ward, you going to leave a man in A+E on a trolley. the NHS and the government is completely crap, i’m moving to Afghanistan, I’ll prob get treated better by that government.
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wohoo another Labourite (or similar) comment from someone who obviously desn’t read other papers. This was headlines on all TV News bulletins since 5.0am today and in most newspapers it was also mentioned. Perhaps you want the truth of Labour failings to be censored and suppressed, that is just about par for the course with them.
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I cannot see the problem but do respect that some people do not want it, my Mother in law would be horrified.
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seriously, I think someone should ask for an FOI on the Conservatives. If they actually stopped requesting all of this information from public sector organisations all the time, then maybe they could get on and do the job of looking of people. It is just another political rambling. Privacy and dignity is important in hospital, granted. But so is having enough nurses to make people better in the first place, and having a hospital big enough to allow for separate wards. Seriously, people should be grateful they can get a bed at the moment, let along send in their orders for a bed with a window, ensuit shower and buffet breakfast. What a waste of newspaper space!
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Has anyone had to stay in a mixed sex ward where, due to the illness of the patients, there was little laughing, joking or making merry, where nursing staff, totally indifferent to privacy and dignity, disregarded curtains etc. Well, I have, on two occasions for lengthy periods.
It was a very unpleasant experience for both men and women and I will wager that some of the light hearted comments above would not be so evident if those who made them had to stay in a mixed sex ward. Get real. They should be abolished immediately.
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Mixed wards, single sex wards. Individual rooms would be more like it in this day and age.
How can anyone get peace and recover from a serious operation when there’s others around breathing their germs and moaning and groaning
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Brian McInnes makes very good points. I’d like to add that we seem to look after prisoners better than hospital patients.
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Hear,hear Sinjun, if prisoners were given some of the meals that are given in hospitals there would be mass riots. There is an atmosphere that pervades a hospital that seems to prevent patients complaining at the time in that they think that their care will suffer from a staff who regard them as troublemakers, so they have to “grin and bare it”. I go into hospital quite a lot and I have complained once. Another patient suffering from TB was placed alongside my bed and less than 2′ away, because one couldn’t get a chair between the beds, his visitors were coming all afternoon and night and sitting on the edge of my bed to talk to him. Apart from the continual, boring chatter and noise, there was an inability to relax or get comfortable and staff thought that I was being unreasonable until my daughter (a midwifery sister) complained which resulted in the Ward sister getting an almighty rollicking. One should not need to complain because that causes unpleasantness.
There is little funny about a stay in hospital, some aspects of them are an utter disgrace and in some respects they are going downhill.
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when i came round from an open heart surgery op i was in a high dependency ward which had men and women in it. when you are that ill you are just glad to be alive. if you are`well enough to complain about your surroundings, perhaps you are better off at home. there are more important things in life, try smelling the coffee
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Some people like the company of others male and female and some would no doubt prefer single rooms, unfortunately its all down to cost and the NHS monster consumes money quicker than the Premier league clubs!
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Whilst I am open minded, my father was most distress that a gay man was next to him and all his gay friends came to visit.
So when are we going to have same sexualtity wards?
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Lucy W – Your comment has really shocked me!!!
I cannot see how you can say such a thing in this day and age.
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perhaps if we all paid triple our national insurance contributions we could have c of e wards rc, buddhist, moslem and hindu wards tut tut
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devon, I take the point about ICUs etc. I was in one also and it goes without saying that there can be no splitting of these due to the high levels of staffing, usually 1 to 1 and the specialised equipment etc. In fact, there is no intention by the Government to have these single sex wards. As for the rest nonsense, I have been feeling dreadful, totally unable to go home yet well enough to be wholly aware of what was happening around me just like the majority of people in hospital. Presumably then, if one isn’t in a high dependency unit, or a mixed ward without complaint, one is well enough to go home. I ask you!
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Lucy, that sounds SUPER!!
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Lucy,
Your father needs to look closely at his own prejudices. Would he have been ‘distressed’ if the patient in the next bed was black and ‘had all his black friends’ visit him?
I wouldn’t mind who was in the bed next to me, so long as it wasn’t a bigot…
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If I am poorly and unfortunatley require admitting into hospital, I wouldnt care if I was in a mixed ward or single sex ward as long as I am recieving the treatment I require to get better!!!!!
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Its a general fact that the older community are perhaps not so tolerant of other peoples colours and sexual preferences, but I sure its because of the way they were raised and the simple lack of exposure to it.
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In two hospitals I stayed in, the male nurses I was treated by were obviously and in one case, openly “gay”.
I can honestly say that (a), when one is really ill, one doesn’t care who treats and deals with one as long as someone does in a proper way and I was certainly grateful and, (b)I have met some monstrous “straight” female nurses in my time, one female harridan in particular, the gay male nurses I came across were not looked on as “gay” they were looked on as “nurses” and one could not have wished for better care. Indeed, I will be so politically incorrect to say, if there was a choice as to what nurse to have, I would go for the gay nurse and I can assure readers that I am straight as a die.
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sorry stuart it was an example, of course all wards apart from icu, hd etc should be 1 sex. it may gradually be happening but not quick enough
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I remember a relative of mine being told no looking the woman was 80 , there was no chance.
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Y Mab and Peter;
My father has had a strong Christian upbringing and takes it seriously. I think its Levicitus that states the Christian position on this.
You wouldn’t dare serve pork to certain faith holders and say, if you don’t like it, don’t eat it would you?
So why can’t Christian beliefs be accomodated in the same way?
PS someone has pointed out the I said I was “open-minded”, by this I meant that I am tollerent to other peoples sexuality and was not actually confirming my own!
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That relative can speak for themselves Andrew, when one is my age, that woman wouldn’t have stood a chance.
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Perhaps if hospitals were allowed to spend more money on nursing staff and less money on the admin staff that they need to produce these stupid statistics, there wouldn’t be so much of a problem and the government wouldn’t keep wasting our taxpayers money on quango after quango to keep on top of a self-perpetuating problems.
SACK THE STATISTICIANS AND EMPLOY MORE DOCTORS AND NURSES.
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