Hundreds of mixed-sex accommodation breaches at Sussex hospitals

Mixed-sex wards were banned in England in 2010, but last November saw the highest number of breaches of this rule for any November on record.
St. Richard's Hospital in Chichester. Photo by Derek Martin Photography and ArtSt. Richard's Hospital in Chichester. Photo by Derek Martin Photography and Art
St. Richard's Hospital in Chichester. Photo by Derek Martin Photography and Art

Breaches in mixed-sex accommodation rules are recorded each time there is an incident of ‘unjustified mixing.’

This is when a patient is placed in sleeping accommodation with a member of the opposite sex.

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The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust which covers hospitals in Brighton and Hove, Worthing, Haywards Heath, Shoreham and Chichester, saw 203 breaches in mixed-sex accommodations in November 2021.

The amount of breaches were the highest they have been over a ten year period.

In November there were 28,835 finished consultant episodes, an NHS measure to determine how busy a hospital is, in the Trust’s hospitals.

During this time the hospital had a breach rate of seven per 1000 finished consultant episodes.

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In April last year, sanctions against NHS hospitals who were found to have mixed-sex accommodation were quietly dropped.

This means that the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust would have had to have paid £50,750 in fines for November 2021 if the old sanctions were still in place.

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