Swindon’s Great Western Hospital has been given a strictly clean bill of health by the National Patient Safety Agency, which has rated its performance as excellent.
The rating is for the cleanliness of the hospital environment, quality of food and levels of privacy and dignity, according to an independent report published today (Wednesday).
The assessments carried out across England by the Patient Environment Action Teams (PEAT) programme assess all hospitals and inpatient units with more than 10 beds.
Each healthcare facility then receives a rating of excellent, good, acceptable, poor or unacceptable. Only 52 sites out of 1,222 in England were awarded a score of excellent across all three categories.
Guy Rooney, the Great Western’s interim medical director, told Marlborough News Online: “We’re delighted that for the third year running we’ve been rated as excellent across all areas. This reflects the hard work of all our staff, who take pride in making the patient experience as positive and comfortable as possible.”
“Patients visiting Great Western Hospital can be reassured of our high levels of cleanliness, infection control and commitment to privacy and dignity. One of our biggest drives to improve patient experience has been to focus on eliminating mixed sex accommodation, so that sharing with the opposite sex will only occur if it’s in the patient’s best interests – this could be when they need specialist treatment, such as intensive care.”
And he added: “We have also embarked on a five-year ward redecoration programme which will see all ward areas refurbished.”
The report points out that more than 30 per cent of patients are accommodated in single rooms, all general wards offer single sex bays, which helps to increase privacy and dignity for patients.
The past year has seen a 50 per cent reduction fall in MRSA cases and a 40 per cent drop in Clostridium Difficile cases.
“We always welcome feedback from our patients, said Mr Rooney. “All patients are encouraged to complete a feedback card when they visit us, as this gives patients the opportunity to tell us what they thought about the standards of hygiene, food, privacy and dignity.”
