Alarm at rise in use of mixed-sex wards in NHS England hospitals

Guidelines ban shared accommodation but breaches are at an all-time high, with patient safety and dignity compromised

NHS England has recorded more than 120,000 breaches of its mixed-sex hospital accommodation guidance in the past six years, a 257% increase.

Guidance added to the NHS constitution in 2012 states that hospital patients will not share sleeping accommodation with members of the opposite sex “except where appropriate”. Exemptions include critical care wards or patients receiving treatment, such as chemotherapy, where they “may derive comfort from the presence of other patients with similar conditions”.