UK PATIENTS FORCED TO SHARE MIXED SEX BATHROOMS?

LONDON, U.U. - Thousands of hospital patients still face the indignity of having to share bathrooms and showers with the opposite sex.
Although the Government is trying to abolish mixed-sex wards, NHS trusts are routinely making men and women use the same communal washing areas.
A survey of more than 60,000 patients by the Care Quality Commission found that 15 per cent had been made to share mixed-sex bathrooms and showers.

• Campaigners say it is unacceptable that patients should be forced to undergo the humiliation of sharing facilities with the opposite sex while dressed in only nightclothes.
• The Government has repeatedly pledged to end the scandal of mixed-sex wards and last year began fining hospitals £250 every time patients were made to share accommodation.

The survey suggests that while many trusts have succeeded in abolishing mixed-sex wards, thousands of patients are still sharing bathrooms and toilets.
Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, said: "It's not satisfactory at all. There's no other walk of life where patients have to share toilets and bathrooms with the opposite sex.

Source: Daily Mail, Agency