Sidmouth hospital’s review boost

Hub is praised for second year running

SIDMOUTH Victoria Hospital has bagged high review ratings for the second year running, a recent survey has revealed.

Health chiefs say the facility’s food and the privacy and dignity afforded to patients were labelled ‘excellent.’

The hospital’s environment rating dropped, compared to a poll last year, but was still described as ‘good’.

“I think for an old building we have done particularly well to maintain high scores,” said hospital matron Emma Bagwell.

“Our inpatient section really is the jewel in the crown but this shows how hard our staff work throughout the hospital, and with so much support from the public and the Comforts Fund.”

Patient Environment Action Teams (PEAT) checked NHS hospitals in England to gauge standards.

Inspections are carried out by NHS staff including matrons and doctors, patients and their representatives, and members of the public.

Cleanliness, hand hygiene and the quality of accommodation and food- from the perspective of the patient- are all reviewed and given one of five scores ranging from ‘unacceptable’ to ‘excellent’.

Facilities like Sidmouth’s hospital, run by the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust, were included in PEAT assessments that took place between January and March.

All of the region’s community hospitals were all rated as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.

Kate Lyons, Northern Devon Healthcare Trust’s operations director, said: “We are pleased that our community hospitals have scored so well in the latest PEAT assessment. The issues of cleanliness, food and privacy are very important to patients and we do all we can to provide our patients with an excellent service and experience.”