To think psych wards should be single-sex?

[UndertheCedartree]

This is something I have thought about a lot. And am interested in others opinions and maybe what can be done about it?

I have spent time on 3 acute wards that were mixed-sex and also one long term ward that was women only (in fact the whole hospital was).

On all 3 of the wards men came onto me, while I was very vulnerable. On one occasion I started a relationship with a man on the ward. I was also touched inappropriately on many occasions. There was also aggression by men. I was obviously not thinking straight and would stand up to men who bullied/abused women. I was threatened on many occasions and actually punched once. This was just normal life on the ward. Looking back I feel I really wasn't safe guarded.

When I got to the women's hospital it was bliss! The general level of aggression (and aggressive swearing) was so much lower! Like a 1 compared to a 10. The type of abuse that happened all the time like inappropriate touching just did not happen. There were not people trying to come onto you all the time.

I just think psych wards should be single sex and preferably single sex hospitals! Because men can still target you when on leave if they are in the same hospital. What do you think?

OMG, this is shocking! I treat mental health patients daily in my country. I am so very sorry for what you've been through. There would be strikes in every town if this had happened here.

Firstly, I’m truly, truly sorry this happened to you. I really hope that you write a report about this to PALS. You are correct that you were vulnerable, and it shouldn’t have happened.

I couldn’t agree more that the wards should be segregated, but I can see why they’re not. Unfortunately mental health is the worst-funded area in the western world. (And undoubtedly everywhere else too.) There simply aren’t enough MH places anywhere.

Historically speaking, every population has always had about the same percentage of people with MH issues requiring hospitalization. After WW1, a lot of money was invested in “Sanitoriums and Rest Homes” for acute patients and those who required less care but were not yet well enough to return home. There were “Halfway Houses, Hostels and Shelters” for those that remained homeless due to addiction, DV, etc, etc… Since then, most of these have been redeveloped and not replaced. There are very few private clinics and they are inhibitively expensive. At the same time, populations have expanded exponentially, increasing the number of people requiring these services as well. Everyone who works in MH knows that they are releasing patients when they are still very unwell, as the need for beds is so high.

I'm a mental health nurse.

Traditionally (ie maybe 50-100 years back) wards were single sex. When I started training they were mixed as this was seen as being more "normal". However since then there's been a drive for them to go back to being single sex, mainly because as you've experienced they're safer for women. In the Trust where I work (well the borough certainly, my Trust covers 4 London boroughs) they're all single sex.

I think in general wards while it's preferable for wards to be single sex, single sex bays are more acceptable. Many general wards have a speciality eg orthopedics so really its only maternity that you would expect a whole ward to be single sex. Most people stay in and around their bed space anyway, but in mental health wards you're encouraged to get up, eat together, and attend OT activities etc. Because of the nature of certain acute mental health issues e.g. aggression, sexual disinhibition etc it's safest imo if they're cared for sep9.

single sex bays are more acceptable

This came out wrong. I meant in general wards they're an acceptable alternative to mixed wards, imo anyway.

I’ve recently stayed in a local hospital. There were some single bed rooms and single sex bays of 4 beds in each. There were male patients on the ward but I was completely unaware of them.
This seemed an acceptable way of managing the varying number los of patients that need to be admitted.

@Stompythedinosaur

I didn't think people have mixed sex mental health wards any more - the guidance is not to do this. Totally agree with op. I don't think this is the normal these days, I have never worked on a ward that wasn't single sex.

How does that work in practice? When I was a mental health nurse working on the acute wards ,with increasingly fewer beds one of the issues might have been one sex might have vastly out numbered the other at any given time ,so a male ward ( for arguments sake ) could in theory be half full and a female ward be struggling for beds I also worked on a PICU which was mixed this is a few years ago I agree wards should be single sex btw but curious as to how it works in reality

I agree, separate buildings ideally.

My sister has twice been inpatient and twice left in harmful relationships she wouldn’t otherwise enter, that disrupted her recovery for significant periods.

ALL wards in any type of hospital should be single sex.

@MsPavlichenko

All wards should be single sex.

This.

The only time I’ve been on a mixed sex ward was when I was a child, and the boy in bed opposite kept telling me he “could see my fanny” and other sexualised remarks. I was 8 and he was about 12 years old.

All wards, for all ages, should be single sex.

I'm clearly out of step with everyone else but I don't have a problem with wards being mixed sex. For one thing, it saves any argument over where trans people should be placed and a debate over who classes as trans enough to go in particular ward. But generally, aside from that, I don't believe it is natural to segregate men from women. Our natural behaviour is to mix.

Wards should be single sex. There are legion reports of women being subjected to abuse by male patients but its cheaper to ignore them.

The bays fudge doesn't help women where there are insufficient staff overall and no actual barriers to men entering the women's bays.

There's no such thing as single sex now as men (and women but we're not hearing much from them) can decide to be whatever sex they like without question so 🤷‍♀️

The world has gone fucking mad.

My friend was sectioned and ended in an two inappropriate "relationships" because she was so ill. She was on a mixed sex ward.
It was easier to have sex than it was to smoke.

@KitBumbleB

My friend was sectioned and ended in an two inappropriate "relationships" because she was so ill. She was on a mixed sex ward. It was easier to have sex than it was to smoke.

That's exactly what happened to my friend.

@MmeSosostris

Hi OP, I just wanted to say hello as you have written very clearly about your experiences yet they must have been very distressing for you. Could you write things down? Would that help you get it all out of your head? Then if you did speak to someone, say a counsellor, you would have a clear idea of what you wanted to discuss and why.

That’s all an awful lot of stuff to experience, particularly when you are vulnerable.

X

Thank you for the advice

@MorningStarling

I'm clearly out of step with everyone else but I don't have a problem with wards being mixed sex. For one thing, it saves any argument over where trans people should be placed and a debate over who classes as trans enough to go in particular ward. But generally, aside from that, I don't believe it is natural to segregate men from women. Our natural behaviour is to mix.

That seems to be a somewhat narrow perspective that fails to take account of the needs of so many women with faiths that don't allow then to be undressed or sleep alongside unknown males, so many women who prefer the right to privacy, dignity and frankly safety from the opposite sex when vulnerable, let alone victims of sexual assault / abuse who will be traumatised by being expected to share wards with random men. Surely the wishes of all women should count? Especially vulnerable women?

@owlinnahat

I was sectioned about 8 years ago and then again 6 years ago and both times was on single sex wards. I don't think mixed sex is always the norm tho I don't know, obvs. Suspect it varies between Trusts. So much does which really sucks.

Am v glad I wasn't in a mixed ward as first time I was manic and hypersexual and had no boundaries at all.

That's good to hear. There were women on the ward like that and as you say it is really not fair.

I agree that most wards should be single sex but I don't agree that post natal wards should ban fathers from staying. In my view fathers have a right to bond with their newborns and helping to care for them in the early days, being able to do skin to skin, change meconium nappies, liaise jointly with the midwives etc is an experience men shouldn't be barred from. I do think men should behave respectfully whilst on postnatal wards though!

God OP I'm so sorry for your awful experience. You deserved protection yet the staff blamed you for essentially having a female body. Males, as a class, are fucked up. I wish I could drain society and culture of every bit of gender stereotyping and patriarchal socialisation which leads males to believe they have an entitlement to women. We are utterly dehumanised by the current system.

@Etak123

I’m so sorry this happened to you x I spend lots of time in hospital and it’s always mixed wards but single sex bays. We no longer have a mental health ward at our local hospital but I know a few people who have been on it in the past. Unfortunately a young man I know very well was in there when he was also very vulnerable and ill and he was traumatised to say the least. It’s so hard to say because everyone who gets sectioned ( been very close many times in the past) is very ill and deserves individual sensitivite supportive care. They are not in control properly, therefore not responsible for their actions so it only makes sense to have single sex wards. Unfortunately with the 12 years of Tory austerity the health and social care budget and the nhs have taken so many cuts that they just can’t afford it. It’s not right and poor people like you are/have paid the price. The only thing we little people can do about any of it is vote, on mass, against the tories and talk to people, explain how they have destroyed our country and try to work together to get funding back where it’s needed x

Thank you, yes I feel it is definitely a case of budget making this a hard thing to achieve. Locally we have a separate psychiatric hospital. It has a number of different wards all mixed. However, they had to close one of the wards and it is used as offices now. It was one of the acute adult wards, even though we are crying out for adult beds. But even with 2 they were mixed. I assume to increase flexibility, but it is operational needs taking precedence over patient needs, which is wrong.

@Stompythedinosaur

I didn't think people have mixed sex mental health wards any more - the guidance is not to do this. Totally agree with op. I don't think this is the normal these days, I have never worked on a ward that wasn't single sex.

A client of mine was in an acute unit recently and that was definitely mixed.

My ex was sectioned and he said that there was women there as well, it really surprised me as I thought they would be kept separate, he said he got into a fight with a man as he was starting on a woman in there.

@Beautyinreality

I was sexually assaulted on a mixed sex ward, happened 10 years ago. Got myself locked in his bedroom. Nearly destroyed me. CQC report suggests that it's not uncommon and threshold for staff to report anything is really high. I'm sorry to hear your experiences OP, resonates with my own very much. Would love to see it move to single sex but given pressures in system it's not anyone's priority.

I'm so sorry that happened to you

One of the issues on one ward was staff would raise safe guarding over a male patient and ask for him to be put on level 4 - that a member of staff had to be with him at all times and in arms reach but the psychiatrist kept putting him back down to level 2 - 15 min checks - I assume for staffing reasons. Even on level 4 the touching continued but it did help a bit.

@Inthetropics

OMG, this is shocking! I treat mental health patients daily in my country. I am so very sorry for what you've been through. There would be strikes in every town if this had happened here.

Thank you

Absolutely they should be single sex. My brother has a mental illness and has had a few stints in a psych ward, the last time he was in a young woman attached herself to him, she kept telling everyone she was his wife, in his mental state he believed her (his wife had died a few months before). As far as we know nothing happened between them but we really didn't think that staff did enough to keep them apart. That young woman was very vulnerable and needed protecting. God knows what goes on in some of those places, it's a disgrace that they are mixed sex.