Volunteers wanted: Take part in a PLACE assessment and help improve our hospitals

The Royal Devon University Healthcare Trust are looking for people to take part in PLACE assessments. Have you got a few hours spare in November to help them?

What is a PLACE assessment?

Patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE) put the patient voice at the heart of assessing and improving the hospital environment.

An assessment team, made up of at least 50% patients and representatives, will visit some of our hospital sites and assess how well the hospital environment supports patients’ needs.

PLACE assessments look at:

• how clean the environments are
• the condition – inside and outside – of the building(s), fixtures and fittings
• how well the building meets the needs of those who use it, for example through signs and car parking facilities
• the quality and availability of food and drinks
• how well the environment protects people’s privacy and dignity

The results of the PLACE assessment are recorded and published nationally. Hospital areas are graded so any improvements can be made and measured.

Find a full role description here.

We want to hear from you!

We are carrying out our assessments in November. If you are interested in becoming a PLACE patient assessor for any of the Royal Devon sites across north, mid and east Devon, please contact Claire in our facilities team at c.padbury@nhs.net or on 01271 311508.

We have some small sites which will take only a few hours of assessment and others sites which take up most of the day. You will usually need to attend a daytime training session as well as committing to one day to perform the assessment itself.