Mental health trust to introduce single-sex wards

The changes are being brought in following a recent Care Quality Commission inspection

A number of psychiatric wards in Somerset and Wiltshire will become male or female only spaces under new plans.

The changes will be made at Sycamore ward in Hillview Lodge, Bath, as well as wards in Swindon and Salisbury.

It comes after a recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection recommended single-sex wards were needed to improve sexual safety.

Avon and Wiltshire NHS mental health partnership said patient safety would always remain its "top priority".

At the moment, the wards all care for men and women aged between 18 and 65 with severe mental health problems - many of whom have been sectioned.

The change to the wards being used for only male or only female patients would mean some patients having to go further away from home for treatment.

A member of staff who works on one of the affected wards contacted BBC Radio Somerset and said many of the staff were worried about the proposed changes.

They said they felt patients should be based as close to their home as possible so they could receive visitors and spend some time at home when appropriate.

They also claimed that challenging conditions, which might be more present in one of the sexes, would be concentrated at one inpatient ward - making it harder for the staff working there.

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust said it currently had two single-sex wards in Bristol but none in Bath, Swindon or Wiltshire.

"During a recent inspection by the quality regulator CQC, it was pointed out that the trust is required to offer admission to a single gender ward for people who are sexually vulnerable," a spokesperson said.

"The trust is therefore considering how best to resolve this issue on a temporary basis until such time as the trust can reconfigure its wards on a permanent basis," they added.