Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

They should be abolished, in a group of men there is always one who pees all over the loo seat, or doesnt put the seat back down! lol

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

Don't they have curtains to cover your dignity? And bed covers?

Am I missing something? As far as I have ever been aware, you are clothed when you are visible in the hospital and sit in your bed eating, reading, watching the telly etc.

Who's to say there is even any dignity of being visible to the same sex? I dont even strip off in the changing room, so being in with all women wouldn't make me feel anymore dignified if I had a problem with the wards.

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

Lord Darzi says that we would have to build a whole new lot of hospitals to ensure tha people were nursed on same sex wards.....what a load of Tosh that is.
Just suppose there are two medical wards....ward A......and ward B.......designate Ward A as female medical, and ward B as male medical......problem solved.

Blazey curtains may cover the dignity of sight, but not of sound......imagine a constipated old man trying to relieve his bowels.......get the picture.

As for being clothed, there are always times when patients are in a state of undress, and they may be confused by drugs, illness, or anaesthesia......this is when the covers are thrown off and bare bottoms are shown to all the world....not much dignity there.
I have known several old fellers who have walked around advertising their wedding tackle too.
Mixed sex wards should be abolished.

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

And when doing some management training I was told that the words 'Can't be done' closes the mind to imaginative solutions.

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

Ah well fair enough, I guess there are situations you could feel humiliated, though in my opinion it doesn't solve the problem of dignity. I dont want to show my bits to man or woman, but thats just one of the things that occurs inb hospital. I try to think that everyone has one so its nothing to be ashamed of. I thought women more than anything would be more conditioned than men about this due to smears, giving birth etc.

I haven't given birth but I watched my mother have my brother before anyone says 'what would you know' about giving birth.

There are worse situations of people losing their dignity than being in hospital after all. I have been in hospital and I cant say I was at all bothered about using the bed pan for all to hear. In fact I wasn't sure how your meant to position yourself over them so i found it rather amusing at the time. Embarrassing situations make me giggle nervously.

As for smears, I let people watch it being done for training purposes for my first one. Not quite dignified having your legs spread eagle for one nurse to peer in without letting several more trainees have a good look too, and believe me they watched so very attentively :D

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

Well, dignity may not be that important to you, but to most people it is paramount.......and I know all about smears and such, having been the Sister on a Gynae unit for some 25 years. I also like to think that gives me some kind of grounding to say what most people feel about the infringement of their dignity.

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

Common Sense it comes with maturity.

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

This might be the case in some cases Blazey but not all.

My mother has had a heart attack followed by a stroke and has now lost her speach amongst other things.

She doesn't have her own nightie on anymore, she wears a hosptial gown which barely covers her, but that is so the nurses can see to her better (access for blood pressure and bloods and other things).

She also is not mentally stable at the moment, and thinks nothing of throwing her bed covers off.

She is in a side ward at the moment as she has an infection, but before that she was in a bay on a ward with only women in. That was fine, as the other women were fine with her. If she had been in a ward with men then it would have been a different story.

A patients dignity should be the paramount importance.

Not all patients are able to cover themselves up and sit on there bed and read magazines and watch television. I wish my mother could :(

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

I have spent more than my fare share of time on mixed sex wards well the old "E3 at Queens Park" this wan't o bad as it was in two halves men one side women the other, plus separate toilets, but like some one else said in an earlier post you don't give a fig when your ill

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

I guess it seems there are two sides of argument to this, and not everyone seems to care about it as much as others. perhaps this is why it isn't being dealt with anymore like promised.

I'm guessing BUPA have same sex wards rather than mixed in their hospitals?

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

i assume they would have individual rooms, but thats only my guess.:confused:

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

Worse than mixed-sex wards are mixed-sex clinics , tho I did have a buddy who picked up a Saturday night dinner date at one once ......kind of amusing when somone at the table asked where they had met :eek: :eek:
true story ... :cool: :cool:

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

You do at some swimming baths, Nelson Wavelengths is one.

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

The time before last when the NHS had me as a guest I was in a mixed sex ward with a domineering witch in the next bed who tried to run the ward.

When me and the chap on the other side were having a bit of a chat she would always poke her nose in and try to take over the conversation. She even tried to monopolise the conversation between a patient and the visitors. It’s no wonder her husband never stayed long and she had no other visitors.

So it’s NO, NO, and thrice NO to mixed sex wards.

It is also NO for bringing kids into adult wards. Not from my viewpoint but from theirs.

Re: Should we have mixed-sex wards?
 

I think that whilst adult wards can be a scary place for a young child, witnessing sickness and death is inevitable in life and its better to experience it from a young age than be blind to it til you're an adult. Just from my own experiences.