Male and female patients are still being treated next to each other in Colchester - despite pledges to end mixed-sex wards in hospitals.
Health bosses admitted men and women were sometimes forced to share the same wards but insisted it was "very rare".
The Government has pledged to end mixed-sex wards in hospitals around the country. But a spokesman for Colchester General said men and women sometimes had to go on to the same ward when the hospital was busy.
"When that happens because of high numbers of emergency admissions, we have enormous pressures on bed stocks and there is sometimes very limited space," he said.
Hospital chiefs says they try to avoid the practice where possible and consult with patients if they have to share a mixed-sex ward.
Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Colchester General and Essex County hospitals, has a policy of not putting male and female patients next to each other.
The Trust says those patients are moved on to single-sex wards as soon as beds become available. It hopes a planned £220 million hospital extension will boost capacity and ease pressure on hospital beds.
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Published Tuesday, March 1, 2005
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