Widow's attack ordeal in mixed hospital ward

Widow Jacquelyn Wardell, 64, feared she would die when the man grabbed her round the throat and cut off her breathing.

The 47-year-old patient was wrestled to the ground but still did not loosen his grip on her throat.

Affront to dignity: Labour has failed to phase out mixed sex wards

Two nurses had to prise his fingers away from her neck while another unwrapped his legs from around the terrified pensioner, who was left with bleeding wounds on her own hands from trying to release his grip.

The frenzied attack is the latest episode in a catalogue of horrific assaults on female patients in mixed sex wards and adds to the pressure on the Government to deliver on its promise to change the policy.

Labour has been widely condemned for its failure to scrap mixed wards, despite repeated warnings that they put vulnerable patients at risk of attack or sexual abuse.

Mrs Wardell, who was being treated at the unit after a long battle with depression, told of her horror that she had been treated alongside a dangerous schizophrenic without any warning, and called on the NHS to scrap mixed sex wards.

She said: 'To put a vulnerable woman on a ward with a man like that was just awful. If the nurses hadn't been there I could have been killed.

'My anger is not directed at him, he's mentally ill and he can't help what he does, but what appals me is the system.

'People like that, dangerous people, should not be on wards with people who are just in for depression, and there should be separate wards for men and women.

'I was told afterwards that he had already punched someone else in the face, and yet they still put him on a mixed ward with me. It's a disgrace.'

The hospital called police after the attack and the man was given a caution for assault.

Disturbingly, the psychiatric unit where the attack happened last month is classed as one of the best in the country.

The Goddington Ward at Green Parks House in Orpington, Kent, was rated as excellent by the Royal College of Psychiatrists  -  one of only five in Britain that received the rating.

A spokesman for Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Green Parks House, said: 'We take the safety of patients extremely seriously.

'Thorough risk assessments are regularly carried out on all inpatients and appropriate action taken to manage risk and treat associated mental health problems.

'Incidents of this nature are very rare and when they occur are dealt with according to robust systems and procedures designed to ensure the safety of all patients and staff.'

The Daily Mail has led a long-running campaign to have mixed sex wards abolished.

Labour pledged to phase them out in 1997 and in 2001, but has failed to do so, and there have been a catalogue of attacks against patients.

The problem is particularly acute on psychiatric units, where a recent independent survey found 55 per cent of patients were forced to endure the indignity of mixed sex accommodation.

Sophie Corlett, policy director at mental health charity Mind, said: 'People are admitted to mental health wards at a time of utmost need, and it is a continued scandal that the Government will not act to stop people being housed in a care environment where they feel threatened and unsafe.'