Declaration of compliance

Every patient has the right to receive high quality care that is safe, effective and respects their privacy and dignity. BHT is pleased to confirm that we are compliant with the Government’s requirement to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation, except when it is in the patient’s overall best interest or reflects their personal choice. BHT is committed to providing every patient with same-sex accommodation, because it helps to safeguard their privacy and dignity when they are often at their most vulnerable.

Patients are placed in segregated sleeping areas and have easy access to same-sex toilets and bathrooms. Patients will only be placed in a mixed-sex sleeping area when clinically necessary (for example where patients need specialist equipment such as in intensive care unit, theatre recovery, coronary care unit, hyper acute stroke unit) or when patients actively choose to share (for instance paediatrics, cancer care and haematology unit).

If our care should fall short of the required standard we will report it. The data will be published by DH as official statistics and made available through the DH website, www.data.gov.uk, NHS choices website and the NHS Information Centre.

What does this mean for patients?
Same-sex accommodation is where specific sleeping areas and toilet and washing facilities are designated as either men-only or women-only. This applies to:

• same-sex wards where the whole ward is occupied by men or women only
• single rooms
• mixed-wards, where men and women are in separate bays or rooms.

Toilet and washing facilities should be easily accessible and, ideally, either inside or next to the ward, bay or room. Patients should not need to go through sleeping areas or toilet and washing facilities used by the opposite sex to access their own.

We believe that providing same-sex accommodation is an effective way of giving all patients the best possible experience while they are in our hospitals. For Buckinghamshire Healthcare, the provision of same-sex accommodation directly relates to our patient promises, which include our patients having access to comfortable modern facilities and a helpful and respectful attitude from our staff. This involves respecting our patients’ privacy and dignity while they are under our care. The needs of our patient always come first and we recognise this as key to being able to deliver on our promises.

What do I do if I think I am in mixed-sex accommodation?
Sometimes fast, effective treatment is more important than the provision of same-sex accommodation. This might happen if you need urgent, highly specialised or hi-tech care. In these situations, our staff will keep you informed and move you into same-sex accommodation as quickly as possible. However, if you have any concerns about your stay in hospital, please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at pals@buckshealthcare.nhs.uk, or call 01296 316042 at Stoke Mandeville and 01494 425882 at Wycombe and Amersham.