Today's most viewed
Hospital patients in mixed wards
FORTY per cent of patients admitted to Winchester hospital are forced to share mixed sex wards, according to a NHS survey.
This number is double the national average of about 20 per cent and among the highest in the south-east region.
The Healthcare Commission also found 51 per cent of patients at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital had to share a bathroom with members of the opposite sex, despite government guidelines this is upsetting, especially for women.
Around 44 per cent reported being in a room or bay with a patient of the opposite sex when first admitted to hospital and 37 per cent when they moved wards.
The number is up on 35 per cent in 2006 in spite of a promise by hospital bosses to "redouble" their efforts to provide more single sex accommodation.
Juliet Beal, director of nursing, said: "We take the use of mixed sex bays very seriously. The situation is monitored weekly and avoided wherever possible.
"To ensure that our most acutely ill patients are safe and have the right care, it is sometimes necessary to be treated in beds in areas that offer better observation and specialist treatment."
The hospital boss said these included the coronary care unit, the emergency medical assessment unit and intensive care which are mixed sex wards, like most other hospitals.
About 21 per cent of patients surveyed were treated in these wards.
Mrs Beal added: "Where a patient is admitted to a mixed sex area they are moved to a single sex bay as soon as possible."
The annual survey of patients, conduced last autumn, found those rating their care as "excellent" or "very good," had narrowly dropped from 77 per cent in the 2006 survey to 76 per cent last year.
The survey found 89 per cent reported the ward as "very clean" or "clean" while 86 per cent said the toilets were either "very clean" or "fairly clean."
About a fifth (22 per cent) of patients who struggled to eat without assistance complained they did not get help, an improvement on 25 per cent in the previous survey.
Satisfaction with the food service fell with 63 per cent describing the quality of food as "very good" or "good" compared to 66 per cent in 2006.
There was also a drop in the number who believed there was always or nearly always enough nurses on duty to care for them from 58 per cent in 2006 to 56 per cent last year.
Elsewhere, the survey found 63 per cent believed doctors and nurses always washed their hands between touching patients.
About 6 per cent of patients said they felt threatened, compared to 5 per cent at Southampton hospitals, 4 per cent at Basingstoke and 3 per cent at Portsmouth
Mrs Beal said: It is unacceptable that some patients may feel threatened by others whilst in hospital.
"Unfortunately we have a high proportion of elderly patients who can often be confused and they can sometimes cause disruption on the wards and disturb other patients.
"We have been working with our colleagues in mental health to ensure patients with dementia are treated appropriately to minimise disturbance to others."
Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: "This survey gives the most comprehensive picture available of how patients feel about NHS hospitals.
There are striking variations in key areas, such as providing single sex accommodation and giving people help when they need it. Those performing poorly must learn from those who perform well.
"It's crucial that trusts take this information on board."
*What do you think of the RHCH in Winchester? Add your comments below.
4:20pm Wednesday 14th May 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
