HOSPITALS in Blackburn and Burnley have been praised for standards of cleanliness, appearance and privacy in a patient-led assessment.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust’s overall cleanliness rating rose to 96.47 per cent, a significant increase on the previous year’s score of 91.68 per cent. East Lancashire Hospital’s rating also saw increases in how dementia friendly it was, which scored 85.07 per cent compared to national average of 74.51 per cent.

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The rating of the trust’s food was below the national average due to issues on the day at the Royal Blackburn Hospital. These issues included the temperature of the food at the point of service and the fact that the trust’s food and drink strategy is still in the developmental stages.

The strategy is being developed with partner organisations and will be completed in the near future. The issues related to temperature of food during the audit were immediately rectified. The trust now feels confident its food score of 74.74 per cent would be increased when assessed again.

Kevin McGee, chief executive, said: “East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust recognises our responsibility to provide the highest level of care possible for our patients in all areas. The PLACE results are a great indicator as to how we are progressing compared to similar trusts and our results are good.

“We appreciate that what matters most is that all patients are well looked after whilst in our care. These assessments have shown patients do receive good care whilst they are with us but they have also highlighted some of the areas we’d like to improve on for next year’s assessments.”