I would prefer some noisy visitors at visiting hour, than a male patient using a portable urinal without closing the curtains around him! My point is about public hospitals seeing it as OK to have mixed wards, not about noise factors. We can't really compare the two scenarios equally.
@June1952 that must have been very uncomfortable for your husband. I think we deserve to have separate wards/room in Australia, whether public or private.
It isn't just those with private health funds that can escape a mixed ward, we have to keep in mind if a person ends up in an emergency situation they will more than likely be taken to a public hospital and then placed into a mixed ward. This happens a lot, so don't think because a person has private health funds that they have the choice. I feel some get complacent about this issue because they are paying into private health funds.
