Consistency and confidence in Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE)

This report by Healthwatch York highlights the role of Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE), and how the process can be improved to give more consistency and confidence to those involved in the assessments, including the wider public.

Whilst Healthwatch York volunteers put themselves forward for PLACE assessments 2013 and 2014, they later requested a debriefing session and, through this report, asked for Healthwatch to make recommendations to improve transparency, confidence and consistency in the process overall.

The concerns raised about the process were the results of PLACE visits arranged by three different provides, all of whom had a very different approach. It was felt by the volunteers that there was an obvious difference in the pre-visit training, for example, the briefing, which was not always attended by the staff, was varied according to the provider. Although the teams were meant to be led by a ‘leader’ in some instances they were ‘staff’ led, an approach which felt more like a 'led' assessment rather than a 'patient-led' one.

There was apprehension felt about how much PLACE volunteers were really ‘listened to’ and whether their comments were recorded properly or not.

The report also highlights concerns after the PLACE visits were done. Volunteers were not directed how and where to raise concerns if they had any about the assessments. They felt it would be helpful to include this information within the pre-visit briefing, at the beginning of each assessment visit. They wanted clear information about when and how to flag issues to both the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) and the Care Quality Commission.

The report lists recommendations to NHS England and to all the providers that conducted the PLACE assessments.