Mixed wards rules broken more than 13,000 times as NHS breaches blamed on lack of beds

Thousands of hospital patients in England have been placed in mixed-sex wards since October, despite a ban 12 years ago, due to hospital bed shortages exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Figures show there were over 13,000 breaches between October and February. The Patients Association called the practice “an affront to patient dignity” and urged renewed efforts to eliminate it.