Privacy and Dignity
When we are ill, we want care, rest and comfort in pleasant hospital surroundings and to know that healthcare staff will do all that they can to protect our privacy and dignity. Patients and staff have told us that this is a particular concern of theirs.
Being with other patients of the same gender is an important component of privacy and dignity. This is why we are working with our providers, particularly University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, in its aim to provide single-sex accommodation for hospital inpatients. As University Hospital is a new build, considerations were made for the provision of single sex accommodation – all wards having separate sex bays and side rooms which include shower and toilet facilities.
Whilst there are no exemptions from the need to provide high standards of privacy and dignity, national guidance recognises that some patients may have a clinical condition which requires immediate access to potentially life-saving treatments, in critical care or A&E for example. At these points in a patient’s journey, access to treatment within appropriate locations is paramount. In these situations, mixing of the sexes can be justified on the basis of providing urgent or personalised care that might otherwise be compromised.
NHS Coventry is also working collaboratively with its community services (Coventry Community Health Services) on Dignity in Care.
The national Dignity in Care campaign was launched in November 2006 following significant patient and public consultation. The campaign is to stimulate a national debate around dignity in care. It is led by the Government in partnership with many organisations that provide and Commission care and protect the interests of those using care services and their carers. It is about changing the culture of care services and placing a greater emphasis on improving the quality of care and the experiences of the population using the care services which includes the NHS.
Although much of the national Dignity Campaign focuses specifically on issues regarding dignity in older people’s care it has been decided that NHS Coventry will take a different approach and the scope of the local dignity campaign will involve all services providing care to both children and adults.
- Commissioning
Process by which the health needs of the local population are identified. Priorities for investment are set and appropriate services are purchased and evaluated. Primary Care Trusts do not provide all of the healthcare services needed by the local population, they buy-in or commission services from other provider organisations. Typically this includes local hospitals.