Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE)

Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) is the national system for assessing the quality of the patient environment and aims to help organisations understand how well they are meeting the needs of their patients, identifying where improvements can be made.

The assessments involve local people (known as patient assessors) going into hospitals as part of teams to assess how the environment supports the provision of clinical care, assessing such things as privacy and dignity, food, cleanliness and general building maintenance and, more recently, the extent to which the environment is able to support the care of those with dementia or with a disability.

The assessments take place every year, and results are published to help drive improvements in the care environment. The results show how hospitals are performing both nationally and in relation to other hospitals providing similar services. A total score as a percentage is produced for each domain at site and organisation level, as well as a national and a regional result.

How can the public get involved?

Good environments matter to us. A clean environment is the foundation for lower infection rates, while good food promotes recovery and improves the patient experience. High standards of privacy promote patient dignity, and good maintenance and décor support a safe and comfortable stay for our patients.

PLACE assessments are carried out by people who potentially use the building – patients, relatives, carers, friends, patient advocates, volunteers or trust/organisation membership and trust/organisation governors – supported by staff. The assessments are organised by the Patient Environment Team and each assessment is led by a PLACE/Team lead. The patients voice is critical in helping University Hospital Plymouth deliver effective services in good care environments.

We currently engage with various patient groups which include Healthwatch Plymouth, our Patient Council and our Hospital Volunteer Service. If would like to be part of the team and help us to improve and understand how well we are meeting the needs of our patients, and identify where improvements can be made please contact us on plh-tr.patientenvironmentteam@nhs.net. A member of the team will contact you and explain the process.

How YOU have made a difference

Raising funds for new patient tables and chairs in the Maternity 24hr vending area
The placement of chairs and a shelter for the Lloyds Pharmacy patients required to wait outside.
Organised a full site access audit to include all offsite facilities such as REI, Tavistock and South Hams Hospitals.
Arranged funding to partner University Hospitals Plymouth with AccessAble. This will help us to develop 130 access guides for our disabled community using our services.
Completely reviewed and upgraded the signage to our external site wayfinding which included all new signage in our MSCP to ensure it met our patients needs.
Organised signage for our new REI to assist patients with limited vision. This included signs with braille and ensuring a dementia friendly environment.