Emersons Green NHS Treatment Centre, run by Care UK, has been given high marks after an inspection.
The report, published earlier this month, praises the centre, which offers in- and outpatient surgery to patients across the region, for its high levels of care and cleanliness.
In January 2012, Prime Minister David Cameron called for a new patient-led inspection of hospitals’ environments and in April the treatment centre underwent its first Patient Led Assessment of Care Environment (PLACE).
Mona Vanwyk, Emersons Green NHS Treatment Centre’s head of nursing, said: “The assessors have access to all areas a patient would visit. We took them to the wards, to our pre-admission and recovery unit, outpatients and all other public areas of the centre.
“They also spoke to patients about the care they receive and their opinions on hygiene standards.”
The centre scored 100% for cleanliness, 98.4% for its food, 97.2 per cent for privacy, dignity and wellbeing, and 97.4% for condition, appearance and maintenance.
Linda Taylor, a member of Emersons Green’s patients’ forum and a PLACE assessor, said: “We were particularly keen to sample the centre’s food and to talk to the patients about the care they received.
“We tried all the food that was being served in the centre and then, after lunch, we spoke to the patients about it. The feedback was very positive, with people describing the food as hot, nutritious and delicious.
“Our observations and discussions with patients showed that the staff go above and beyond people’s expectations to make a patient’s stay here excellent – buying in food requested which was not on the menu, purchasing newspapers for patients and allowing food to be eaten at other times than scheduled meal times.”
Pamela Mackie, hospital director, said: “I am very proud of the team. Each person, whether they are part of a medical, administration, maintenance or catering team, strives to ensure each patient has the best possible experience of treatment and care and I think that is reflected in the assessors’ feedback.
“This initiative reflects the importance of meeting the needs and expectations of patients and I am delighted that the assessors have commented so positively. One area mentioned for possible improvement was signage – we will certainly take that on board and work with Care UK’s experts on accessibility to ensure we make the most of the assessors’ valuable feedback.”
