Trafford General meets high standards for patient privacy and dignity
November 19th, 2009
Health chiefs have made further improvements to facilities at Trafford General to ensure that they meet the highest standards in protecting patients’ privacy and dignity.
Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust has provided new bathrooms, partitions, monitoring equipment and signage to ensure there is maximum privacy for male and female patients being cared for in the same departments at Trafford General Hospital. It now fully meets key Department of Health targets to eliminate mixed-sex hospital accommodation.
Earlier this year, a national inpatient survey showed that Trafford was ‘significantly better than average’ in providing facilities to protect patients’ privacy and dignity.
The further improvements include:
- New shower facilities and solid partitions between beds in the Intensive Care Unit
- Two new bathrooms, a new monitoring bay and modesty curtains to glass sections on doors in existing bathrooms in the Medical Assessment Unit
- Two new bathrooms in the Day Surgery unit
- Clearly identified male and female bathrooms and solid partitions between beds in the Critical Care Unit
- A new bathroom in the High Dependency Unit
Alasdair Ferro in a single-sex room in Ward 4, Trafford General Hospital
Patient Alasdair Ferro, 30, said he was impressed with the standards of privacy and dignity provided by the Trust.
Mr Ferro, from Ashton-upon-Mersey, said: “It is not something I would have really thought much about but it is reassuring and comforting to know I have single-sex privacy.
“It is a big deal for people who are older and more vulnerable, and for the ladies, but I do feel like the Trust are concerned about my privacy, which is important.
“The care and efforts of the staff since I have been here has been first-rate and the single-sex accommodation is just another example of that.”
The Trust’s Deputy Director of Nursing Shirley Smith said: “All of our staff strive to ensure that we protect our patients’ privacy and dignity, and surveys continue to show us that this is an extremely important aspect of their stay in hospital. These physical improvements to facilities are an important contribution to our work in this area, and we continue to listen to our patients to improve our service and their experience of healthcare with us.”
£132,000 was provided by the strategic health authority NHS North West for the improvements as part of a programme to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation at hospitals across the region.
Ends
Contact:
Emer Scott, Head of Communications, 0161 746 2945 or emer.scott@trafford.nhs.uk
Notes to Editors
1. Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust is an acute trust providing district general hospital services at Trafford General Hospital, Altrincham General Hospital and Stretford Memorial Hospital, as well as in the community. It has around 330 inpatient beds at Trafford General Hospital.
2. The Trust also performed well in the Healthcare Commission’s 2008 national inpatient survey, published in May 2009. Ninety-one per cent of inpatients at Trafford General rated the quality of care as ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ or ‘good’ and 95 per cent were satisfied with the cleanliness of their ward or room.
3. The Trust has been rated Level 2 by the NHS Litigation Authority in recognition of the fact it provides high-quality care and has safe systems in place.
