§ Dr. Richard TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the use of mixed sex wards in NHS hospitals; and if he will make a statement about the scale of use of such ward. [36452]
§ Ms BlearsGuidance on maintaining privacy and dignity was first issued to the service in 1997 and since then the national health service has been working towards a clear target to eliminate mixed sex accommodation in 95 per cent. of national health service trusts by December 2002.
Ongoing monitoring of the progress of the project continues and indicates that progress towards the targets is being maintained and work is continuing to ensure that this remains so.
Additional professional and technical support is being made available to those who are finding meeting the targets particularly challenging.
It is not possible to provide information at the level of the individual ward. The majority of hospital wards are usually subdivided into bays which are designated as male or female. Depending on the case mix and local need, the exact proportion of male to female bays will vary.