Patients work together with hospital help to improve standards

Earlier this year, a team of patient representatives undertook their annual inspection of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, in order to assess the quality of the patient environment.

Now, the results released by the NHS Commissioning Board today show that the hospital has improved in all of the measured areas, therefore supporting the value of taking on-board patient feedback.

The Patient-Led Assessment of the Care Environment (PLACE) is part of a national system that aims to help NHS organisations to understand how well they are meeting the needs of their patients and to identify where improvements can be made.

“Patient representatives offer a non-technical view across a range of environmental aspects,” explains Sarah Widnell, Non Clinical Patient Experience and Retail Manager. “They help us to observe how standards are being met that support patient privacy and dignity, food, cleanliness and general maintenance, as well as disability and dementia.”

This year’s hospital inspection was carried out by a team of 20 patient assessors, which comprised of members of Healthwatch Plymouth, Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust’s Patient Council, hospital volunteers and shadow governors. Accompanied by clinical and non-clinical staff, the group visited wards and departments, scrutinised facilities in communal areas, tasted patient meals and even examined the external grounds.

“A good hospital environment is really important to patients,” adds Tony Gravett, Deputy Healthwatch Plymouth Manager. “Not only does it support their care, but it ultimately helps people to recover quicker, which is the overall aim.”

The report published today shows that not only has Derriford Hospital achieved its highest ever scores, in all of the defined categories, since the introduction of the PLACE standards in 2013, but it is also now rating higher than the national average in many areas. In particular, the Trust has seen big improvements in its assessment for both food and dementia.

Liz McGuffog, Service Lead for Hotel Services at Derriford Hospital, said: “We are really pleased that the Trust has achieved such a high score for its food service. Following extensive consultation and testing, the Trust launched a new patient menu in September last year. The new menu has improved the breadth of choice, the quality of the offer and provides additional nutritional benefits to those patients that need it most. We have seen improvements to specialist diets, the introduction of a dementia friendly menu, new breakfast options and a “bistro-style” evening meal that includes hot and cold items, alongside a hot dessert. This has had a big impact on our PLACE food score this year.”

“We’ve also been working towards making the hospital more dementia friendly”, adds Beverley Allingham, Deputy Director of Nursing. “For instance, we’ve painted the bay entrances on the Trust’s Healthcare of the Elderly wards in contrasting colours, and installed large faced clocks in bedside areas, day rooms and waiting areas.

“We recognise the benefits of this assessment, as it reinforces the importance of environment and provides a clear measure of areas where we are getting it right, as well as areas for improvement.”

Hear what the patient representatives have to say in this video.