Privacy and dignity for all

Providing same-sex accommodation in Northamptonshire

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Healthcare is committed to providing the very best possible care for all our patients and service users. It should be safe, effective and totally focused on the individual needs of each and every person.

Your privacy and dignity is just as important, which is why we have made a number of changes to provide you with same-sex accommodation when you are admitted into our care. And we are planning even more improvements over the coming years.

Our adult mental health inpatient services at the Welland Centre in Kettering and the new brand new Berrywood Hospital in Northampton both provide the highest standards of same-sex accommodation.

We have dedicated male and female treatment wards at both centres and all patients have their own single room with en-suite bathroom.

Patients also have their own single rooms in our psychiatric intensive care and assessment units. These wards, which admit both men and women, have designated male and female-only areas, including lounges, bathrooms and toilets.

Over the next few years our mental health wards for older people will also be replaced by state-of-the-art new facilities, starting with our services in Northampton.

In 2010, older people's mental health services in Northampton will move from Princess Marina Hospital to the new Berrywood Hospital. There, patients will also have single rooms with their own en-suite bathroom.

In the north of the county, we are also planning to upgrade and completely refurbish our inpatient wards for older people at St Mary's Hospital in Kettering.

In the meantime, Bronte Ward at Princess Marina Hospital has been designated as a men's ward and Jennings Ward as a women's ward. Our remaining inpatient wards - Shelley Ward at Princess Marina Hospital and Carlton and Ian Bennett Wards at St Mary's Hospital - now have designated separate men's and women's sleeping areas, toilet and washing facilities.

More information about the same-sex accommodation programme can be found on the NHS East Midlands website.

What do we mean by 'same-sex accommodation'?

Same-sex accommodation is where sleeping areas, toilet and washing facilities are designated as either men-only or women-only.

This means that men and women shouldn't be in beds next to each other and toilets should be clearly labelled. Disabled toilets and washrooms contain specialist facilities or equipment, so are for use by either men or women.

Sleeping facilities

Sleeping facilities in same-sex accommodation can be provided in a number of ways including: same-sex wards where the whole ward is occupied by men or women only, single rooms for one person, or wards where men and women are in separate bays within that ward. In this instance a solid partition will be used as a privacy screen to separate men and women.

Toilet and washing facilities

Toilet and washing facilities should be clearly labelled and easily accessible. Ideally, they should be either inside or next to the ward, bay or room. Patients should not need to pass through the same room as the opposite sex or use toilet and washing facilities designated for use by the opposite sex.