PLACE – Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment

All hospitals and hospices that provide NHS-funded care are subject to an annual assessment called PLACE.

Hospitals and hospices managed by voluntary, independent and private healthcare providers that do not provide NHS-funded care are also encouraged to participate in the programme but it is not mandatory for them to do so.

The NHS is currently looking for volunteer Patient Assessors who, as part of a PACE team, go into their local hospitals to assess the provision of clinical care.

Each PACE team is made up of at least 50% volunteer Patient Assessors who work together with NHS staff. All volunteers receive full training.

A large selection of wards and departments across all specialities and communal areas are visited to complete the assessment. It’s a great way for Patient Assessors to really understand what the patient might see and feel, and contribute to making improvements to our care environment.

The team assesses a wide range of environmental issues that include:

cleanliness
tidiness
decoration
privacy and dignity
dementia-friendly environment
patients’ food
mealtime services

All these areas directly impact on the quality of the patients’ journey.

The results are shared across the organisation and externally for benchmarking purposes, including the Care Quality Commission, who review the results as part of their triangulation of data prior to inspections.

The following information relates specifically to the three hospitals of Southend, Basildon & Broomfield (Chelmsford) – known as MSE (Mid and South Essex University Hospitals Group), but if a Patient Assessor role sounds of interest, we would encourage you to contact your local hospital trust.

The assessments will take place across the Mid and South Essex Hospitals Group on a rolling programme between 28 October – 22 November.

Training for the assessments will take place mid-October as detailed below.

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Assessors will then be invited to a half or full day assessment at a single site. You could participate in 1 or all 5 assessments – whatever suits you.

If you are interested in participating, please fill in the PLACE Recruitment Flyer 2019 and forward it onto Angel Shires via email on angel.shires@meht.nhs.uk

If you require any more information please call Ms Angel Shires: 01245 516414