All new hospitals should have a minimum of 50 per cent single rooms to allow privacy, confidentiality and dignity for those who are dying, a report said today.
The report, Design & Dignity - a Baseline Review, is the first review of the physical environment of Irish hospitals for those who are dying and was undertaken for the Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HfH) Programme.
It called for more single rooms and the closure of old-style "nightingale wards". It says the physical environment of some hospitals requires "urgent attention" from the Health Service Executive (HSE).
"While the vast majority of Irish people want to die at home, more than six out of 10 people die in hospitals of one kind or another - 40 per cent die in acute hospitals," it states.
It identified examples of good practice and initiatives but found that because of the history of hospital provision, there are some institutions that are "no longer fit for modern purpose".
The report said the future of older hospitals needs to be reviewed where they are not able to offer "the highest design and dignity standards to patients and their families".
In some hospitals, patients were accommodated in mixed-gender wards and bed bays. There was also, in some cases, a lack of facilities for private consultations and conversations "in situations where confidentiality is paramount".
The report also noted several examples of mortuary viewing facilities "resembling accident and emergency treatment cubicles rather than areas where a family could spend time with their deceased relative".
But there were other hospitals where wards had 50 per cent single rooms with natural light, ensuite facilties and separate accommodation away from the ward for relatives to stay overnight.
The HfH Programme is an initiative of the Irish Hospice Foundation in partnership with the HSE and aims to put "hospice principles into hospital practice". Forty hospitals are involved in the first phase of a five-year programme.
Prof Cillian Twomey of the programme said: "The physical environment of our hospitals can enhance or detract from the dignity of patients. Evidence would indicate human and financial gain through good design.
"Despite the ongoing nature of concerns regarding the design, layout and ambience of our hospitals and the frequency of statements regarding the need for 'more dignified conditions', there is, to our knowledge, no recognised structured approach which can be used to assess these conditions and to compare one hospital with another," he said.