Last updated at 15:01, Monday, 06 July 2009

THE West Cumberland Hospital has received ‘good’ ratings for the levels of privacy and dignity it offers patients.

All change: The West Cumberland Hospital

The Hensingham hospital was also rated as ‘good’ – the second highest grade possible – for its quality of food and cleanliness.
The scores come from this year’s National Patient Safety Agency Patient Environment Action Team inspections. The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle received an ‘excellent’ rating for food and ‘good’ scores for ensuring the level of privacy and dignity afforded to patients was high, and for the level of cleanliness.
Patient Environment Action Teams were established in 2000 to assess NHS hospitals and to ensure that the experience of patients was a good one. The National Patient Safety Agency now coordinates the scheme.
Under the programme, every inpatient healthcare facility in England with more than 10 beds is assessed annually and given a rating of excellent, good, acceptable, poor or unacceptable.
Standards of cleanliness in all areas of the hospital are inspected including general areas, wards, kitchens and bathrooms. Food is also tested for quality and choice.
A new category in the last three years also assesses how well a hospital’s environment supports privacy and dignity looking at the segregation of men and women in sleeping areas and toilets/bathrooms.
Alan Davidson, director of estates and facilities management for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “These are excellent scores for both our hospitals. Trust staff and those employed by Interserve at the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle continue to strive to ensure that we enhance the patient’s experience by providing hospitals that are clean, achieve high standards of privacy and dignity where needed and provide good quality catering offering choice.
“The Trust’s objective is to ensure that standards are maintained at these high levels and indeed, improved even further wherever possible. Staff have worked together to ensure the patient environment meets patient expectations and will continue to do so.”

First published at 14:59, Monday, 06 July 2009
Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk