MIXED-sex accommodation at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital has been “virtually eliminated”, according to health trust bosses.

A spokeswoman for the Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust (WEHT) said that on any given day, just one of its average 391 patients was now experiencing mixed-sex accommodation.

It comes as Health Secretary Andrew Lansley last week pledged to end mixed-sex accommodation where clinically justified.

Yet, according to a survey at the Romsey Road hospital, 100 people reported sleeping in mixed-sex accommodation in the first quarter of this year.

Patient surveys at the RHCH between January and March this year revealed 32 per cent shared a sleeping area with members of the opposite sex. The poll was taken over a 12-day period in January, four in February, and five in March.

Figures are higher for the hospital’s emergency assessment unit, where 53 per cent said they were sharing facilities.

Whitehall has said mixed-sex accommodation is acceptable in such circumstances, where it is in the overall best interests of the patient.

The trust claims it has made “tremendous steps forward” in separating patients.

A survey in 2008 found 60 per cent of patients at the hospital were placed on mixed-gender wards, or had to share bathrooms at some point.

Justifying the disparity between the patient survey and its latest figures, a spokeswoman for the trust said: “The surveys did not include the gynaecology, maternity or breast unit wards, which are female only, therefore the figures are bound to be skewed.

“The clearest indicator of how many times a patient may share sleeping accommodation with someone of the opposite sex is the report of ‘breaches’ — this averages at seven per week.”

Maggie Oldham, chief operating officer at WEHT, said: “The trust’s number one priority must always be patient safety.

“There are times when the need for the right clinical care is greater than the need for single sex accommodation, as indicated by Andrew Lansley.

“There are some areas of the hospital with highly-specialist equipment and staff expertise, such as the intensive care unit and cardiology.

“Patients who need these services may be in mixed-sex bays, but we limit this to as short a time as possible.”

In the 2009-10 financial year, WEHT was given £232,000 to improve its mixed-sex accommodation.

The trust spent the money on new curtains across inpatient areas, improved signage for all bathrooms, and the appointment of a project manager on a temporary contract to ensure sustainable changes were made on delivering same-sex accommodation.

Ms Oldham added: “Over the last year we have made tremendous steps forward in this area, not just in practical terms, such as new bathroom facilities, but also in our own tolerance and attitude to mixed-sex accommodation.

“The gender of patients forms part of our bed management work, so that we can begin planning where to accommodate them even before they have been admitted.

“Even when our bed capacity is very limited, a patient’s gender is a key factor in deciding where they will go.

“In older hospitals it can be harder to ensure single sex accommodation, but we have set a great example with Kemp Welch ward, and so will endeavour to repeat this model when our other wards are refurbished.”

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