A little over a year ago I reported the U.K. hospitals were putting women and men in the same rooms together and the government was fiddling with the numbers to make it look like it wasn’t as bad as it actually was. Now it turns out they have just decided to give up trying:

Labour has admitted it had abandoned its historic commitment to eliminate mixed-sex wards from NHS hospitals.

Health minister Lord Darzi of Denham told the House of Lords that the key manifesto pledge repeated in 1997 and 2001 was “an aspiration that cannot be met”.

But with typical socialist doublespeak they go on to say:

A Department of Health spokesman said Monday night: “Lord Darzi’s comments were fully in line with the Government’s long-standing commitment on mixed-sex accommodation. The aim of the NHS is to reduce mixed-sex accommodation and ensure privacy and dignity for all patients.

Don’t let socialized medicine happen here.

Update: Phil has other news about the “free” (and worth every shilling too!) health care in the U.K.