THE health trust which runs Colchester Hospital has been found to have breached a rule preventing patients of different sexes from sharing the same ward.

Figures have revealed the rule was breached dozens of times at the East Suffolk and North Essex Trust (ESNEFT) over a six-month period.

The breaches from these figures apply to ESNEFT’s critical care unit step-down patients and assessment units but not its inpatients wards where patients have longer stays.

Hospitals have been expected to eliminate mixed-sex wards – except in justified situations such as in intensive care – since 2010.

But NHS England figures show that between October and March, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust recorded 26 breaches of mixed-sex accommodation rules.

This was compared to 26 breaches in the five months between October 2019 and February 2020 – the latest comparable period.

The Patients Association said the violations are an "affront to patients' dignity” and added that it is concerned over an increase in breaches nationally.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the charity, said: “The figures for March are of great concern – mixed sex wards are an affront to patients’ dignity.

“No patient wants to receive intimate, personal care on a mixed sex ward, and it's the sort of stress that doesn't promote recovery.”

The single-sex rules apply to sleeping accommodation, which includes any area where patients are admitted on beds or trolleys even if they do not stay overnight.

Data was not recorded between March 2020 and September 2021 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In April 2021, a policy to fine trusts a blanket rate of £250 for each breach of the rules was also dropped by the NHS.

Anne Rutland is deputy chief nurse for quality at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, the organisation which runs Colchester and Ipswich hospitals.

She said: “Our teams work very hard to make sure patients are cared for in same-sex areas.

“However, there are circumstances where we would need to prioritise the clinical need of the patient.

“Where this is necessary, and it is rare, we always take extra steps to maintain the dignity of the patient and the other patients around them, and we use side rooms as much as possible.”