Local hospital accommodation standards among worst in country
Figures released today reveal that local hospitals have the 6th highest rate of mixed-sex accommodation breaches in the country. This is further evidence of the crisis facing the NHS, according to South Lakes MP Tim Farron, who is calling on the government to provide an urgent cash boost for the NHS.
There were 31 breaches of NHS mixed-sex accommodation standards last month at hospitals run by the Morecambe Bay Trust, including 21 at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. This meant that that the Morecambe Bay Trust had the 6th highest breach rate of all 151 acute trusts in the country.
Earlier this year, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron proposed an alternative plan for the NHS which would have seen the NHS in Cumbria receive a much-needed £20million boost this year.
The Conservatives had promised to eliminate mixed-sex wards, but the figures show that nationally the number of patients forced onto mixed-sex wards has almost tripled in the last two years.
Tim said: "This is yet further evidence of the crisis facing our local NHS due to Conservative government cuts. Local hospitals are struggling to cope and it is the patients that end up suffering as a result. In a modern health service, it is a matter of basic dignity that men and women should not be forced to share accommodation.
"Our NHS desperately needs more cash, but instead the Conservatives have plans to cut £572million from local health services by 2021. This is a colossal sum which will only exacerbate the problems that are faced.
"The Conservatives talk the talk about getting rid of mixed-sex wards, but the evidence is clear that this problem has in fact got worse. The Conservatives cannot be trusted with our NHS."