PATIENTS in Oxfordshire hospitals will never have to share accommodation with the opposite sex, except in emergency situations, NHS managers say.

A senior nurse director said the only time patients would share their ward would be when it was “absolutely unavoidable”.

The statement follows the Government’s announcement that it would eradicate all mixed-sex hospital wards by the end of the year after it found thousands of patients nationwide were still sharing with the opposite sex.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said on Monday he was determined to put an end to the practice where it was not clinically justified.

He added: “Where NHS organisations fail to meet this standard, we will let the public know that they have failed and we will strengthen the fines which may apply.

“Patients and members of the public will be able to see which services continue to allow patients to suffer the indignity of mixed sex accommodation.”

In 2004 the Oxford Mail revealed that all 99 wards in the county’s main hospitals were mixed.

But yesterday the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals (ORH) Trust, which is responsible for the Horton in Banbury, and the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals in Oxford, said all sites were now in line with the Government’s privacy and dignity guidelines.

Same-sex accommodation is defined as where male and female patients sleep in separate areas and have access to toilets and washing facilities used solely by their own sex.

Elaine Strachan-Hall, director of nursing and clinical leadership at ORH, said the hospital had come a long way in six years and had carried out a lot of rebuilding work to meet the Government’s standards.

She added: “The only time a person will have to share a ward with a member of the opposite sex is when it’s based on clinical need. For example, where patients need specialist equipment such as in critical care areas and A&E. When this is the case, staff are asked to be particularly vigilant about the issues of privacy and dignity for patients within the limitations of their ward.

“It’s important for Oxford Mail readers to note the definition of a same sex ward.

“We will only treat inpatients in mixed wards when it is absolutely unavoidable.

“Patient safety obviously comes first, but for me privacy and dignity is a close second. ”

Jacquie Pearce-Gervis, chairman of Oxfordshire patient group Patient Voice, said the ORH had done well to meet the standards.

She added: “It has been a problem at the hospitals in the past but I think Oxfordshire has done well to turn things around.

“Now it is up to them to keep up the standards.”