Patients rate the care environment at Guy's and St Thomas'

Guy’s and St Thomas’ has been rated above the national average in five out of six categories of the Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE). The results were published by NHS Digital on Tuesday 15 August.

Teams of patient assessors and staff visited Guy’s Hospital, St Thomas’ Hospital, Lambeth Community Care Centre, Minnie Kidd House in Balham, and Pulross Intermediate Care Centre in Brixton.

More than 50 patient assessors, together with staff, undertook assessments between April and May this year.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ scored above the national average in the following areas:

• 99.8% for cleanliness (national average 98.4%)
• 93.1% for food and hydration (national average 89.7%)
• 90.0% for privacy, dignity and well-being (national average 83.7%)
• 94.4% for the condition, appearance and maintenance of facilities (national average 94%)
• 78.2% for dementia-friendly environment (national average 76.7%).

The Trust scored just below the national average – 82.2% compared with a national average score of 82.6% – for a measure considering how well healthcare environments support the provision of care for people with a disability.

The Trust is committed to ensuring that premises are accessible to people with a disability. In July this year we adopted DisabledGo, an online accessibility guide for our hospitals and community centres, to make it easier for patients to visit Trust services.

Peter Bennett, Facilities Services Director at Guy’s and St Thomas’, says: “We are pleased that the Trust has scored highly in these ratings for hospital cleanliness, food, environment, privacy and dignity. There have been some marked improvements from our scores last year, but there is always room for further improvement.

“By including patients in these assessments, we gain insight into what is important and how we can do better. We will take action to address the comments made and use the advice given to improve patient experience for all across the Trust.”

Full results are available on the NHS Digital website.