Norfolk hospitals will get same-sex wards

Dan GrimmerAll hospitals in Norfolk will be able to provide same-sex accommodation by this spring, health bosses have revealed.Dan Grimmer

All hospitals in the county will be able to provide same-sex accommodation by this spring, health bosses have revealed.

The Department of Health requires male and female patients will not have to share wards, bathrooms or toilets when they are admitted to hospital from April.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital at King's Lynn, the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, and Norfolk Community Health and Care which operates community hospitals are compliant.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is already mostly compliant and expects to be fully compliant by the end of March - no wards are mixed sex but the A&E unit has mixed bays.

Maureen Carson, chief nurse and director of women's and children's commissioning services at NHS Norfolk, said staff at all acute and community hospitals had worked incredibly hard to bring the changes into effect.

'Spending time in hospital can be stressful for both patients and their families but the new arrangements will mean a greater degree of dignity which can only make the experience more comfortable,' she said.

In addition patients should not need to pass through opposite sex accommodation or toilet and washing facilities to access their own.

The issue will be discussed at NHS Norfolk's board meeting today at the John Jarrold Suite, Sportspark Norwich.