, Shadow Health Secretary, responding to
changes to the NHS Constitution proposed by the Government, said:
“Rights on paper are worthless unless they are delivered in
practice. The NHS constitution already pledges that no patient
will have to share an overnight ward with patients of the
opposite sex, but that is not the case for too many patients.
“The use of mixed sex wards has exploded under the Tories. Women
were forced to spend the night on wards alongside male patients
44,000 times last year, twenty times as many as a decade ago,
putting huge numbers of people's safety at risk.
“The Conservatives cuts to hospital beds and failure to train
enough staff has left the health service unable to protect
patients' basic dignity.
“Labour supports single-sex wards and will provide the staff,
investment, and reform the NHS needs to make sure every patient
can be cared for safely.”
Ends
Notes
- There were 44,000 mixed sex accommodation breaches in the NHS
in the past 12 months https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/mixed-sex-accommodation/msa-data/
- Hundreds of allegations of rape and sexual assault in
mixed-sex psychiatric wards were uncovered earlier this year:
https://news.sky.com/story/mental-health-patients-raped-and-sexually-assaulted-in-nhs-care-as-national-scandal-revealed-13056678
- Labour backed calls for Martha's rule to be written into the
NHS Constitution in September: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/05/labour-backs-call-for-marthas-rule-on-right-to-second-medical-opinion
