Mental health patients at risk of sexual assault on mixed sex wards, watchdog warns

Vulnerable female patients have been sexually “exposed” on a mixed gender ward deemed not “fit for purpose”, the NHS watchdog has warned.

The Care Quality Commission found that sexual incidents had occured at Hill Crest, a 25-bed mixed gender mental health unit in Redditch, as male and female were being put at risk.

It found male patients are able to walk into female bathrooms and bedrooms, leading to risks of sexual assault and relationships. It found that sexual incidents had taken on the unit because of the risks.

The rate of assaults on mixed sex wards is significantly higher than on single-sex wards, data has shown.

According to the CQC, the trust graded sexual incidents between patients as “low harm” but did not fully consider them or follow up actions to keep patients safe.

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Source: The Independent, 8 February 2023