§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 14 May 2002,Official Report, column 624W, on mixed sex wards, how many mixed sex wards there are in the NHS. [60817]
§ Mr. HuttonThe information requested is not available in this format as compliance is measured on a trust by trust basis rather than on an individual ward level.
The reasons for measuring at the trust level is because hospital wards generally care for both men and women. To provide the required levels of privacy and dignity for patients, wards are split into single sex bays, or single rooms, or otherwise configured to provide adequate segregation of gender. It is the responsibility of each National Health Service trust to determine the most appropriate configuration to meet their specific requirements.
The Department has set three objectives which trusts must meet to be deemed compliant. These objectives refer to single sex accommodation and not single sex wards.
The target set is for three objectives to be achieved in 95 per cent. of trusts by December 2002.
The three objectives are:
To ensure that appropriate organisational arrangements are in place to secure good standards of privacy and dignity for hospital patients;To achieve the Patient's Charter standard for segregated washing and toilet facilities across the NHS; andProvide safe facilities for patients in hospitals who are mentally ill which safeguard their privacy and dignity.Trusts are required to re-assess and report their position annually. This information has been collected through health authorities. Separate validation programmes are undertaken to ensure that information provided is robust and reliable.
This is a very challenging target and we are working with the NHS to provide professional and technical support to ensure progress towards meeting this target continues.
Guidance on maintaining privacy and dignity was issued to the service in 1997.