A patient at Canberra Hospital says she was disgusted to overhear a man having sex in the next bed while she was having treatment for a serious health condition.
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Denise from Tuggeranong, who asked that her surname not be published, was admitted to the hospital in August after becoming ill with respiratory problems.
She said she was given a place in a cardiac and respiratory ward and was told she would have to share a room with a male patient due to a shortage of beds.
''I don't mind being in with a male patient overnight because of the shortage of beds,'' Denise said.
''That's fine, you've got to give and take. But the episode with the sex - that was enough for me.''
About three days into her stay, Denise said the man's girlfriend had visited him and lay on his bed next to him.
That evening, a nurse drew a curtain around the couple and at about 9.30pm, Denise said she heard inappropriate noises.
''It was disgusting. The curtain was always around.
''But there's no brick wall between us and that was the problem,'' she said.
The woman left at about 11.30pm and the male patient snored loudly all night before complaining in the morning that he was feeling extremely tired.
Denise said she complained and was moved to another room without comment.
''I told one of the nurses what went on and they just turned a blind eye,'' she said.
Denise said she was regularly admitted to hospital and was concerned that nursing staff did not have time to check on patients regularly.
She said she lodged a formal complaint with the Health Directorate in August but did not receive a response.
A spokesman from the Health Directorate said the hospital had no record of receiving a complaint from Denise.
ACT Health Directorate policies require patients to ''treat health care workers and other patients courteously and with respect'', and ''to respect the rights and privacy of health care workers and other people using the service''.
In 2008, a special commission of inquiry on acute care services in NSW hospitals recommended that the practice of placing male and female inpatients in the same hospital rooms be halted.
The special commissioner Peter Garling, SC, described the practice as ''undignified''.
