I read your recent article on mixed-sex wards (The Argus, May 10) with interest.

Two weeks ago I was admitted to Coombes Ward at Worthing Hospital. I was very surprised to find myself in a six-bedded ward containing two men. One of these men - a gentleman I would guess to be in his 50s or 60s - had his curtains around his bed permanently in an effort, I imagine, to maintain his dignity and privacy from the three women in the beds opposite him.

Coombes Ward is a trauma ward so I do not feel it comes into the category of either admission or critical care and it is certainly not paediatric. According to a spokesman from West Sussex NHS Trust, only the areas in these categories are mixed.

I suggest they pay a visit to Coombes.

I did my nurse training at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel in the early Eighties. The casualty at this hospital was and still is one of the busiest in Europe and we had a constant stream of trauma and emergency admissions.

However, the intensive care unit was the only mixed-sex area. All wards were either male or female. My first post was on the male orthopaedic and trauma ward and we would never have dreamed of mixing the sexes.

On the rare occasion we had to take a lady she would be nursed in one of the single rooms. If we had no single rooms she would be admitted to another, nonorthopaedic female ward.

If we could do it then why can't they now? We used to juggle beds and, yes, it was a hassle and it might have meant the medical team had to go to another ward but never did we mix men and women. Coombes Ward has separate six-bed bays - at the very least they could create single-sex bays, which would be a good compromise.

This was my first experience of being in the same ward as men and was not one I particularly enjoyed. I hope this embarrassing practice is phased out as quickly as possible.

  • Louise Markanday, Crest Way Portslade