Published on: 14 August 2019

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Would you like to support your local hospital trust and help to improve the environment in which we deliver care for our patients?

We are looking for volunteers to take part in a Patient–Led Assessments of Care Environment (PLACE) programme.  

PLACE is the system for assessing the quality of the patient environment within hospitals and hospices that provide NHS-funded care in the NHS, private and independent sectors.

The assessments involve teams of local people (known as Patient Assessors) going into hospitals to assess how the physical environment supports the provision of clinical care.  They assess things such as privacy and dignity, food, cleanliness and general building maintenance. More recently this has also included how the environment is able to support the care of those with dementia.  

The assessments take place every year, and results are published to help drive improvements in the care environment. The results show how we are performing both nationally and in relation to other hospitals providing similar services.

The National PLACE assessment results are shared with the Care Quality Commission, which uses the information gathered as part of their monitoring and reporting on our performance.

Chris Pearson, Director of Nursing for ELHT said “Good environments matter. Every ELHT patient should be cared for with compassion and dignity in a clean, safe environment. PLACE assessments provide motivation for improvement by empowering our public and patients to have their say about how the environment or services might be enhanced.

“Assessment teams are a collaboration between staff and patient assessors, with Patient Assessors making up at least 50 per cent of the Assessment Team. Anyone who uses the service can be a Patient Assessor, including current patients, their family and visitors, carers, patient advocates or patient council members.

“It should be noted however that the assessment focuses exclusively on the environment in which care is delivered and does not cover clinical care provision or how well staff are doing their job.”

If you are interested in becoming a Patient Assessor at ELHT, please contact your local Healthwatch group or email Lisa Grendall, Development and Environment Manager for ELHT at lisa.grendall@elht.nhs.uk.