Same-sex accommodation

Being in mixed-sex hospital accommodation can be difficult for some patients for a variety of personal and cultural reasons. The NHS understands this, and strives to treat all patients in privacy and with dignity. For this reason, it is working to ensure that all hospitals provide same-sex accommodation for all patients.

You can now see if hospitals breach same-sex accommodation and can use this information to help you choose a hospital. Find out how your local hospital performs (xls, 3.59 mb)

Hospitals in England already provide same-sex accommodation for 90% of patients whose stay in hospital is planned, and for 71% of those admitted in an emergency. But there's more to do to ensure that there is same-sex accommodation for patients at every stage of their care.

Find more detailed information on the hospital accommodation FAQ page.

What should I expect?

For a hospital to claim that it offers same-sex accommodation, it must:

separate male and female wards and bays with, at the very minimum, full-height partitions;
provide separate male and female bathroom and toilet facilities; and
arrange facilities so that patients do not have to walk past people of the opposite sex to reach washing or toilet facilities or to access other hospital services.

"You have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, in accordance with your human rights" NHS Constitution

Comments

1 Comments about ‘Same-sex accommodation’

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alaorii said on 21 April 2012

What is the point of same-sex accomodation if patients have no rights to same-sex health workers attending to them? Why is sharing a bed near same-sex patients more important than having intimate procedures carried out by unknown nurses and doctors who are of a different sex? Why is there no advice on NHS choices regarding patient choice for same sex care and treatments?