Patients still treated in mixed-sex wards at hospitals

Hospital chiefs in Hull have said it could be years before they eliminate mixed-sex wards after it and Rotherham were shown to be among five per cent of NHS trusts failing to meet accommodation standards to separate men and women.

The failure comes despite investment worth 100m in nearly 1,200 separate schemes in the past two years. Scrapping mixed-sex accommodation was a Labour manifesto pledge in 1997 and ex-Health Secretary Alan Johnson repeated it would be abolished within a year in April 2008.

All NHS trusts have been told they must provide accommodation separately for men and women, dividing up bays with either solid walls or full-height partitions. Using curtains to separate bays is not allowed.

Ministers say hospitals which fail to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation must have plans and timescales in place to complete the work or face sanctions.

Patients Association director Katherine Murphy said: "While we welcome the progress, we are astounded that some trusts are still not compliant.

"This is fundamental to what people expect from their treatment when they enter hospital. People can find sharing mixed-sex accommodation at the least awkward and at the worst frightening. It is simply not good enough."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "It's completely unacceptable that one in 20 trusts has failed to meet a target that ministers must have thought was entirely achievable."

Health Secretary Andy Burnham hailed the improvements to care achieved by the vast majority of hospitals, saying he was impressed by the dedication and commitment of trusts to deliver the work required.

In Hull, managers admitted that 12 out of 54 wards at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital did not meet the required standards, but health chiefs said they had no plans to penalise the Hull and East Yorkshire trust.

Hospital chiefs in Rotherham declined to comment.