Two thirds of psychiatric patients are treated on mixed sex wards, shows census

Mental health services are still disproportionately failing members of ethnic minority groups, says a report from the UK Care Quality Commission. Its annual survey of people in mental health wards in England and Wales also shows that in 2009 67% of patients (59% of men and 76% of women) were treated on mixed wards, proportions similar to those found in censuses carried out in 2007 and 2008. Additionally, 19% of men and 24% of women had to share mixed sex bathroom facilities during their stay in a psychiatric ward. The commission’s Count Me In report was based on a snapshot of patients on one day: 31 March 2009. It covered NHS and independent mental …