It has been stated time and again that mixed accommodation in hospitals will be a thing of the past but nothing has happened yet. One can often find women patients getting admitted with men where there is no privacy and this is a common scene in hospitals across the country.

The problem is more acute in geriatric wards where bed space is at a premium.

The NHS has been surrounded with this problem for years but it seems now no more as Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has asked a prominent official to figure out the hospitals reeling under this problem.

The past Labour government had also thought of addressing this problem but nothing happened.

Lansley has stated that no shared wards will be there except during emergency and intensive care units.

A spokesman for the Royal College of Nursing said, "Patients want to minimise the inevitable difficulty of having to discuss personal conditions with strangers. They want to be able to protect their privacy and maintain their modesty.”

An announcement regarding this is expected by Lansley as early as this week.