PLACE 2015 Report - West Sussex

In April 2013 NHS England introduced PLACE, a national system for assessing the quality of the patient environment. PLACE gives local people the chance to enter hospitals as part of a team, to look at how the environment supports patient care. They look at privacy, dignity, food, cleanliness and general building maintenance. The reports do not look at clinical standards (medical care), or at how competent members of staff are.

Healthwatch West Sussex were delighted to be part of PLACE with all the Trusts in their area for the first time this year:

- Brighton & Sussex University Hospital Trust (BSUH)

- Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH)

- Surrey and Sussex Hospital Trust (SASH)

- Sussex Community Trust (SCT)

- Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust (SPFT)

- Western Sussex Hospital Foundation Trust (WSHFT)

Healthwatch were involved in a total of 31 PLACE inspectors, each requesting 2-6 Healthwatch inspectors.

Ahead of the visits the West Sussex volunteer team ran a training session to introduce the programme to volunteers who had not experienced this work before, and to update others on changes to the programme.

The report

The following recommendations were made in this report:

- Use the report as a learning opportunity in preparation for the following year's PLACE.

- All Trusts to provide Healthwatch and other inspectors, with a copy of the Action Plan, drawn-up from the learning of PLACE and provide regular updates on the progress against the plan.

- Develop a timetable for PLACE to show what happens when. Healthwatch West Sussex would be happy to facility the coordination of lay assessors into PLACE visiting slots and this could be achieved by directing all local volunteers, who are interested in taking part via our Helpdesk. This would also enable HW West Sussex to offer training to all lay volunteers.