DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release (2007/0102) issued by The Government News Network on 9
May 2007
Report by chief
nursing officer into single sex accommodation in NHS
The NHS must do more to keep male and female patients separate is
the message from a report out today by England's chief
nursing officer, Professor Christine Beasley, setting out a clear
agenda to tackle mixed sex wards.
The report highlights the actions trusts should take to improve
provision of single sex accommodation. It includes practical
advice for trusts who are struggling to maintain this core
standard of care, for instance: the layout of hospital
accommodation should be reviewed, and where necessary improved to
enhance segregation; trusts should set and publish local standards
on single sex accommodation; and publish local targets for
improvement where necessary.
To ensure this is a priority for trusts, the NHS chief executive
has made the commitment to reduce mixed sex accommodation a core
priority for the NHS for this coming year. Primary Care Trusts
are now expected to ensure that the commitment to reduce mixed sex
accommodation is implemented locally. Health Secretary Patricia
Hewitt says:
"The NHS overall has an excellent record of treating people
with dignity and respect. Year after year surveys show that the
overwhelming majority of patients feel they have their privacy
respected and they receive good care. However this report shows
there is clearly still more work for the NHS to do to meet our
commitment to eliminate mixed sex accommodation wherever possible.
"In addition to this report from the chief nursing officer,
I have asked the Strategic Health Authorities to publish
statements setting out the progress they are making. The NHS chief
executive has also put this commitment into the Operating
Framework for the NHS this year.
"This commitment is important but we need to be clear that
the NHS will never turn a patient away because the right sex bed
is not available."
The report highlights the difference between mixed sex
accommodation and mixed sex wards, allowing services to be matched
to patients needs. As long as men and women are sensitively cared
for in separate bays or rooms, and have their own toilet
facilities, then it can be appropriate for all patients with
certain medical needs to be on the same ward, being cared for by
the same team of doctors and nurses.
Professor Christine Beasley says in the report:
"The NHS holds the key to delivering privacy and dignity to
all patients. Single sex accommodation is a core commitment in
the NHS. It should be the norm in all elective care, when patients
are pre-booked in for hospital treatment, and it remains the ideal
for when treatment is unscheduled.
"But we also need to be realistic that sometimes mixing of
patients will occur, such as in highly specialised departments
such as Intensive Care Units and emergency admissions, where the
need to admit a patient for care takes priority over the need for
segregation. None-the-less, some attempt at segregation should
always be made. I am asking the NHS to do more to ensure that when
there is no choice but to mix patients, that more safeguards are
taken to ensure that privacy is maintained."
Notes to Editors:
1. The report is Privacy and dignity - A Report by the Chief
Nursing Officer into Mixed Sex Accommodation in Hospitals. It is
available on the DH website.
2. In November 2006, the chief executive of the NHS, David
Nicholson, asked Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) to review
mixed sex accommodation in their patches. Health Secretary
Patricia Hewitt also asked the Chief Nursing Officer to produce a
report on privacy and dignity in acute care and set out the areas
where the NHS needed to improve..
3. What SHAs found was that most trusts were still reporting
compliance, but that a small number were clearly finding it
challenging. There are currently 28 trusts receiving support to
secure improvements. Each SHA has been asked to publish details
of the issues faced and the work they have been leading on this.
4. This years Operating Framework for the NHS specifically
mentions the importance of single sex accommodation, placing a
requirement on Primary Care Trusts to "ensure local
implementation of the commitment to reduce mixed sex
accommodation, and maximise privacy and dignity in situations
where the need to treat and admit takes precedence over complete segregation."
5. The Department of Health is also making information available
to the public that will help then make choices over where they
seek their elective care. The NHS Choice website, which goes live
in the summer, will contain information on privacy and dignity
from the Healthcare Commission and from this year PEAT
assessments. Over time, NHS Choice will build into a comprehensive
site which will provide a wide range of information to support
people making choices about their healthcare.
[ENDS]