Move to more single sex wards at the Royal Bolton Hospital welcome!

Cllr Andy Morgan, Parliamentary Candidate for Bolton South East, today welcomed the Royal Bolton’s announcement that it is to tackle the scandal of mix sex wards at the Hospital.

Andy said  "I have been campaigning for several years now with regards this issue so I am extremely pleased to hear that the Hospital Trust now intend to do more work on this.”  

“The fact that the hospital have in the past declared compliance with policy does not mean mixed sex wards are right.  The days of males and females being segregated by the use of a curtain are unacceptable and should be eradiated as soon as possible.''

The number of mixed sex wards at the Royal BoltonHospital is to be cut in a £500,000 reorganisation.

Health bosses have revealed they are to undertake a massive review to meet new government guidelines, which demand that trusts phase out the wards unless there is “overriding clinical justification”.

It means 23 of the hospital’s 36 wards will be looked at with 13 of them being made single sex by June and the remaining 10, which are specialised units, being reorganised so male and female patients can be cared for in separate areas wherever possible.

The remaining 13 wards at the hospital will not be reviewed as they are already single sex, such as the maternity ward, or already satisfy government requirements.

The Royal Bolton Hospital has been under pressure to review its mixed sex ward policy since an elderly female patient was sexually assaulted by a man in a neighbouring bed.