Royal Surrey’s care environment recognised | News

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust has once again been ranked among the best for the quality of its care environments and has been placed second out of all acute trusts nationally for its support of patients living with a disability.

Patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE assessments) are carried out in NHS trusts across the country and involve local people going into the hospital to assess the environment.

It covers food, cleanliness, privacy, dignity and wellbeing, building conditions, appearance and maintenance and how well the organisation supports patients with dementia and disability.

Royal Surrey performed above the national average in all eight categories, achieving 99.81 per cent for disability compared to 87.06 per cent nationally, ranking it as the second best acute trust for this category. This includes looking at the availability of handrails, appropriate seating, flooring and accessibility.

Haslemere Community Hospital scored full marks (100 per cent) for cleanliness compared to a national average of 98.62 per cent.

Milford Community Hospital was recognised for its work to support the privacy, dignity and wellbeing of its patients scoring 98.77 per cent. The national average for this category is 90.44 per cent.

In total 49 assessors, which included patient representatives, governors and volunteers, visited the three trust sites.

Louise Stead, Group Chief Executive of Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals Trust said: “These excellent results show that our patients are cared for with compassion and dignity in a clean and safe environment.

“They have been achieved thanks to the dedication and hard work of many colleagues working alongside a number of partner organisations. These include Medirest, who provide many of our services including food, Hotel Services, who look after our community hospitals and CBRE, who maintain our estates.

 “Thank you to all our staff who go above and beyond to make Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust one of the best places to receive care.

“I would also like to thank all those who supported us by giving their time to access our hospitals.”