NHS breaks mixed-sex wards rules 44,000 times in a year with patients at risk of humiliation and assault

The use of mixed-sex wards has gone “through the roof” after the number of men and women being put in beds next to each other soared to nearly its highest level in a decade.

Official figures from NHS England show the government’s strict rules against doing so were broken nearly 5,000 times in February alone.

NHS leaders voiced concerns over the high number of breaches and warned that care that was “unthinkable a decade ago is at risk of becoming the new normal”.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said patients were left feeling humiliated and at risk, adding: “The use of mixed-sex wards has gone through the roof under the Tories.”

The government outlawed mixed wards in the NHS in 2010. Under the guidance, patients should not share wards overnight, share bathroom facilities or have to walk through areas occupied by patients of the opposite sex to get to the toilets.

When hospitals breach this they are required to report it to the NHS. Only in very few circumstances is mixed accommodation allowed – such as urgent admission to critical care.

Despite promises more than a decade ago to eliminate mixed wards, The Independent has found:

• 4,811 reported breaches in February, up from 3,789 last November

• Nurses warning “sky-high breaches” are the tip of the iceberg

• Evidence that patients are suffering sexual assaults while on mixed mental health wards

Breaches are almost as high as the 4,929 breaches seen in February 2020, when Covid was ravaging the NHS and just weeks before ministers announced a nationwide lockdown to protect the health service, and the 4,938 seen last January.

Under the guidance, no mental health units should have mixed wards. However, earlier this year, The Independent revealed the practice is widespread, with more than 500 sexual assaults reported across almost half of the NHS mental health hospitals in England.

In one case, patient Alexis Quinn told how she was placed on a male-only ward due to bed shortages at the time. She was later sexually assaulted while in the corridor by a male patient.

Another former patient, Rivkah Grant, was sexually assaulted by a male mental health worker while at Barnet Hospital, and then further “traumatised” after she was moved to a mixed ward just days later.

However, NHS England said the breach rate – how many times the rules were broken compared to how busy the health service is – was the same this February as it had been in February 2020.

Mr Streeting said that the use of mixed-sex wards could be directly linked to government cuts: “Women were forced to spend the night on wards alongside male patients 44,000 times last year, 20 times as many as a decade ago.

“Patients often find this humiliating. Thanks to the investigative reporting of The Independent, we know that this is also leaving women particularly vulnerable and putting their safety at risk.

“The rising number of breaches is a direct result of Conservative cuts to hospital beds and their failure to train enough NHS staff.”

Earlier this year, following questions by The Independent, the Department for Health and Social Care said it planned to update guidance on mixed-sex accommodation – however, it has yet to publish this.

Rory Deighton, from the NHS Confederation which represents hospital trusts, said the rise in breaches was a “big concern to NHS leaders” but also “an indication of the immense pressure services have been under for some time”.

He cited delays in discharging patients to social care and bed occupancy that were “too high, with too many patients waiting too long for beds after being admitted from A&E, and this is leading to corridor care”.

“Staff are trying to mitigate safety risks day in and day out, but care that was unthinkable a decade ago is at risk of becoming the new normal,” he said.

NHS guidance says patients should not share wards overnight with members of the opposite sex “except where appropriate”.

The only exemptions are critical care, end-of-life care, and observation wards where patients are only meant to be admitted for four hours and where treatment is delivered such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

The guidance also says that on the rare occasions that mixing does occur, every effort should be made to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Lynn Woolsey, UK deputy chief nurse at the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Sky-high mixed-sex ward breaches tell the story of an NHS bursting at the seams, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Patients are routinely being cared for in corridors and other inappropriate settings. Nursing staff describe instances of having to move non-essential equipment such as vending machines in order to place a bed with a patient. Patients deserve respect, privacy and dignity, and this is not it.”

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “This is yet another broken promise from this government on the NHS. It shows the Conservative Party simply can’t be trusted with our NHS.”

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive at NHS Providers, said trust leaders do everything they can to avoid mixed-sex accommodation.

But, she said, “record levels of pressure and demand for beds mean there will unfortunately be times when this is not possible”.

Last year, the then health secretary Steve Barclay announced a ban on transgender patients being accommodated in female-only and male-only NHS wards, telling the Tory party conference in Manchester: “We know what a woman is.”

However, he did not address the issue of rising mixed-sex wards.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have been clear patients should not have to share sleeping accommodation with others of the opposite sex and should have access to segregated bathroom and toilet facilities. We expect NHS trusts to comply with these measures.”

They added that the government is making “huge progress” in reducing the overall waiting list while continuing to “respect the rights of patients”.