RELATIVES of patients at a Colchester Hospital helped move loved ones’ beds so they didn’t have to be next to patients of the opposite sex.

The incident was described by Peter Dixon, chairman of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, at a trust board meeting.

Mr Dixon said although the beds, at one of the town’s two hospitals, were moved in “good spirits” the incident should not have happened.

He added: “I have heard one case where visitors have been pushing beds around to keep the bays same-sex.

“This really should not be happening.”

Mr Dixon was speaking after it was revealed on 22 occasions in April alone, the hospital broke new Government rules barring men and women sharing six-bed bays in wards.

Trust spokesman Mark Prentice, said the hospital had invested in single-sex bathrooms and toilets at the hospital to improve patients’ privacy.

He added: “The actual figure is probably not 22, but likely to be around three or four, because if a woman is staying in a six-bed bay with five men, then that counts as six breaches rather than one.

“There are also times when it is clinically acceptable to have women with men and it is not always unreasonable to put them together.”