asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they intend to eliminate mixed-sex wards, other than in intensive care units, in NHS hospitals, bearing in mind the Prime Minister's aspiration that the National Health Service meets the demands and needs of the individual. [HL1403]

Guidance issued to the National Health Service requires the provision of single sex accommodation, not wards, which can take a number of forms. NHS trusts may provide single rooms, single sex bays within a mixed ward, single-sex wards or combinations of these types. We do not collect information on the number of trusts which have mixed-sex wards per se.

There will always be occasions when the need to treat and admit takes priority over complete segregation. Hospitals will not turn patients away just because the right sex bed is not immediately available.

Single-sex accommodation should be the norm for elective care, and remains the ideal for all admissions. We have made this clear in this year's operating framework, which charges primary care trusts with setting and publishing stretching local plans for improvement in this area.