Hospital rapped for failing single-sex wards standard

May 21 2008 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

royal liverpool hospital

LIVERPOOL’S biggest hospital last night defended its record after being named as failing minimum standards for single-sex wards.

New figures compiled from a Freedom of Information (FoI) request revealed the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen NHS trust was falling short of government requirements.

It was one of 15 trusts in the country to admit that some of its bays failed minimum standards.

The figures came from an FoI request by the Tories, who claimed the government was far from eliminating NHS mixed-sex accommodation, despite assurances the goal was within “touching distance”.

However, the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen NHS trust said all its 57 wards were organised into single sex bays.

Deputy chief executive Talib Yaseen said: “We take the privacy and dignity of our patients extremely seriously and ensure we provide accommodation that meets the standards set out by the Department of Health and the Healthcare Commission.

“Like many hospitals in England, we provide care for our patients in single-sex bed bays. All of our bed bays are permanent structures with proper walls to divide them from other bays or ward areas. Each individual bed also has curtains should any of our patients need additional privacy.

“Each bed bay has its own designated toilet and bathroom facility either adjacent to, or directly opposite so they are close as possible for patients.”

Mr Yaseen added that single-sex accommoda-tion was high on the list of priorities under plans to redevelop the Royal.