King’s concludes PLACE assessments

24 November 2022 - Local people have been assessing our hospitals

Throughout autumn 2022, King’s has been welcoming volunteers from the local community to help assess the environment at King’s College Hospital, Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) and Orpington Hospital.

Patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE) give local people the opportunity to review and evaluate the quality of the hospital environment. Between September and November 2022, almost 90 volunteers were invited by Healthwatch to visit areas across the Trust. The group looked at how the environment supports the provision of clinical care, focusing on areas such as privacy and dignity, food, cleanliness and general building maintenance.

Claire Melody, Facilities Manager at King’s, explained: “We’re extremely grateful to everyone who has given up their time to come along and tell us what they think about our hospitals’ environment. PLACE assessors are made up of relatives, carers, and patient advocates as well as patients, and their recommendations are so important. Every NHS patient should be cared for with compassion and dignity in a clean, safe environment, and our PLACE assessments put patient views at the centre of any improvements we can make.”