A report has warned that women are being put at risk by mixed-sex wards and shared accommodation within the NHS, highlighting ongoing failures to maintain single-sex spaces for patients despite long-standing guidance requiring their provision. The findings add to pressure on health service providers to address privacy and dignity concerns, particularly for vulnerable patients who may be housed alongside men during hospital stays.

The report points to breaches of NHS same-sex accommodation rules, which are meant to ensure patients are not required to share sleeping areas, bathrooms or other facilities with members of the opposite sex except in emergency or clinical circumstances. Campaigners and officials cited in the findings argue that continued lapses expose women to distress, embarrassment and potential safety risks, and are calling for stricter enforcement of existing standards across NHS trusts.