Last week, one of the wards we inspected/audited – failed.
The other three passed.
For a number of years, I join a very small team – who carry out an assessment
(none- clinical) of our hospital(s) (Peterborough & Stamford).
This year I will be doing 3 x 1 day sessions.
No we do not get paid for this – it is purely volunteer based
Good environments matter. Every NHS patient should be cared for with compassion and dignity in a clean, safe environment.
Where standards fall short, they should be able to draw it to the attention of managers and hold the service to account.
PLACE assessments will provide motivation for improvement by providing a clear message, directly from patients, about how the environment or services might be enhanced.
The assessments involve local people (known as patient assessors) going into hospitals as part of teams to assess how the environment supports the provision of clinical care, assessing such things as privacy and dignity, food, cleanliness and general building maintenance and, more recently, the extent to which the environment is able to support the care of those with dementia or with a disability.
Recruitment and training of patient assessors is the responsibility of those organisations undertaking assessments.
The assessments take place every year, and results are published to help drive improvements in the care environment. The results show how hospitals are performing both nationally and in relation to other hospitals providing similar services.
Note that PLACE assessments focus exclusively on the environment in which care is delivered and do not cover clinical care provision or how well staff are doing their job.
Again, I am very proud and privileged to be of help and member of this group.
