Slow progress in phasing out mixed sex wards has been criticised in a report on Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust published last week by the Commission for Health Improvement, highlighting the difficulty that some older UK hospitals are facing in moving to single sex wards and providing greater privacy for patients.
The commission report carried out a clinical governance review between July 2001 and January 2002, which assessed arrangements within three clinical teams—care of older people, orthopaedic services, and paediatric services—at Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust. The teaching hospital provides a range of regional specialties, medical surgery, and emergency care for a population of 300 000 in south London.
Many aspects of the review were positive, with mortality for non-emergency cases lower than the national average and outpatient waiting times close to average. The commission praised the trust's commitment to research and its recently introduced primary care suite, staffed by nurses and GPs, which now cares for more than half of patients attending the accident and emergency department.
However, the report criticised the continued use of mixed sex wards, where male and female patients are nursed alongside each other. It warned: “Patient privacy, dignity and confidentiality could be compromised by the use of mixed sex ward accommodation and shared cubicles in the accident and emergency department.”
New buildings planned under a private finance initiative should resolve this problem, but the commission warned: “The trust needs to urgently consider what steps can be taken to improve privacy, dignity and confidentiality for patients on the nine mixed sex wards and in A&E [accident and emergency].”
The Commission for Health Improvement is an independent body set up to help the NHS to monitor and improve clinical care in England and Wales. As part of this role, it carries out routine clinical governance reviews in every NHS trust, health authority, primary care group, and local care group in a rolling programme. Organisations that the commission reviews are required to respond with an action plan designed to address any areas needing change.
In its initial response, Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust acknowledged the need for improvement in the privacy and dignity of patients. “Due to the age of some of the hospital buildings, patients are sometimes cared for in mixed sex wards.”
A spokesperson for the commission said: “This is not compliant with the national standard on accommodation, one of the measures set out to modernise the NHS.”
The Commission for Health Improvement's report on the Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust is available at www.chi.nhs.uk