Tories promise more hospital rooms
Updated on 29 September 2008
The number of single rooms in NHS hospitals in England will almost double under the Tories, shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said.
The Conservatives claim the measure will allow patients admitted to hospital for planned care to choose whether they want to stay in a single room or on a bay while they are treated.
The plan, which will cost almost £1.6 billion over five years, will increase the proportion of beds in single rooms from 28% to 55%.
There will also be an expansion in the number of isolation rooms to protect against the spread of infectious diseases such as MRSA.
The 45,000 extra single rooms would be paid for out of existing budget surpluses and would guarantee single rooms for mental health patients and mothers giving birth in maternity wards.
To tackle the spread of hospital infections, 7% of single rooms will be specifically reserved for those suspected of having diseases such as MRSA and C.diff.
Mr Lansley told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham: "I am determined that the NHS will be equipped to meet standards of dignity and safety and provide real choice to patients - the kind of choices which private patients take for granted.
"So today I am announcing that within five years, under a Conservative government, every patient will be given the opportunity to choose a single room when booking an operation in hospital.
"Every hospital will have the single rooms they need to isolate infected patients.
"All mothers in maternity care will have access to a single room. All mental health patients will have single rooms. No patient will be in mixed-sex accommodation."
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