SOUTHEND Hospital is risking fines by flouting rules that ban mixed-sex wards.

There is a zero-tolerance approach towards mixed sex accommodation at hospitals, NHS guidelines state, in a bid to ensure safety, privacy and dignity for patients.

The hospital was recorded as breaching the rules four times in the 12 months up to August this year - having had no breaches during the 12 months previous.

Mixed sex can be justified by hospitals in certain situations, such as in intensive care, but this would not be recorded as a guidelines breach.

NHS trusts are supposed to be fined £250 per patient each time they break the rules - meaning Southend Hospital should have faced £1,000 in fines over the course of the year.

However, NHS England said enforcement of the fines is left to individual clinical commissioning groups, which plan and buy healthcare from trusts, who could potentially decide to waive them.

Neither Southend Hospital or Southend CCG could confirm whether Southend Hospital had been fined as a result of the failings.

Lucy Watson, chair of the Patient’s Association charity, said failing to follow the rules could cause additional anxiety for people already worried about being in hospital.

She said: “Patients shouldn’t find themselves in a bed next to a member of the opposite sex, particularly if they need to use a bedpan, or have intimate care.”

The ban applies to sleeping accommodation, which includes any area where patients are admitted on beds or trolleys even if they do not stay overnight.

Denise Townsend, director of nursing at Southend Hospital Trust said: “Our patients’ privacy and dignity is important and we have processes in place for safely accommodating patients onto wards that best meet their care needs.

“It is not routine for us to accommodate patients into a mixed sex sleeping area and on the rare occasions, we aim to resolve the issue within four hours.

“In some exceptional circumstances in order to provide immediate, safe care it may be necessary to accommodate both male and female patients within the same area. When medical care is more urgent than the priority of same sex accommodation, the clinical needs of the patient must override the justification to place the patient in same sex accommodation.”