Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views regarding the mixing of male and female patients in bedded wards in public hospitals; and the policy in place on this particular issue. [10762/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I take it that the Deputy is referring to public acute hospitals. My Department has been informed by the Health Service Executive in relation to public acute hospital services that gender mixing occurs in high dependency units such as intensive care, coronary care and accident and emergency departments as well as in small geriatric assessment units. Outside of these areas, gender mixing may occur as a result of emergency medical need where no alternative accommodation can be found at the time of admission. Therefore, it may not be possible to re-organise the accommodation arrangements for male and female patients on a day to day basis to correspond with the varied demand for male and female beds as some flexibility is occasionally required in order to ensure patient admission. In such circumstances patients are usually only mixed for short periods until alternative accommodation can be found. On such occasions it would be normal practice that patients would be screened off by the use of curtains etc. to ensure that a degree of privacy can be maintained.