A bigger proportion of English NHS hospitals are scoring highly for the patient environment compared with 2011, but slightly fewer now rate themselves as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ for patient food, and privacy and dignity, the latest Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) results reveal.
The data shows that 97.7 per cent rated themselves as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ for food in 2012, compared with 98 per cent in 2011; while for privacy and dignity the figure was 98.0 per cent compared with 98.6 per cent. However 94.9 per cent rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ for patient environment, compared with 92.9 per cent in 2011, reveals a Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) report. The 2012 PEAT assessments, which aim to provide a ‘snapshot on standards of non-clinical activity that impact on hospital patients’, took place between January and March, and cover areas ranging from cleanliness and signage, to quality and availability of food and drink. Although PEAT is voluntary, 100 per cent of eligible NHS organisations, covering 1,148 hospitals, participated, along with 160 independent hospitals. Hospitals are scored in each of the three categories as one of five grades – from ‘excellent’ to ‘unacceptable’. In 2012, for the third year running, there were no ‘unacceptable’ ratings.
