NHS to scrap mixed-sex patient areas within a year

Mixed-sex accommodation in NHS hospitals will be abolished within the next 12 months, Health Secretary Alan Johnson promised.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Royal College of Nursing, Mr Johnson yesterday admitted Labour used the wrong wording in its 2001 manifesto, which pledged to ban "mixed-sex wards".

He said the party should have used the phrase "mixed-sex accommodation" instead, adding there was nothing wrong with having a large ward with separate bays for men and women as long as privacy could always be preserved.

"I hope by next year's conference you would have seen us meet what is now becoming a rather frayed-at-the-edges manifesto commitment."

The announcement earned Mr Johnson a standing ovation, a marked contrast to two years ago when his predecessor, Patricia Hewitt, was jeered off the stage.

But charity Help the Aged said the Government's commitment did not go far enough. Senior policy officer Charlotte Potter said: "The Government should work towards providing singlesex wards for all ... It can't keep hiding behind the idea that they set the wrong target. They need to set the right measure and stick to it."