A Kent hospital has breached rules about placing patients in areas with members of the opposite sex almost 1,000 times since the start of the year. The government banned the use of mixed wards in 2010 – and now each NHS Trust records when there has been a “mixed-sex accommodation” (MSA) breach. Data shows Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham has broken the “unjustified mixing” rule 964 times in 2024. There were 486 MSA breaches in January, 278 in February, 90 in March and 110 in April. Over the same period, East Kent Hospitals recorded 703 breaches. Dartford and Gravesham had far fewer with …