Praise for hosptal's hygiene (From Gazette Series)

Praise for hosptal's hygiene

Berkeley Hospital has been ranked in the top ten percent of the country's community hospitals for its quality of food and its patient environment.

The Department of Health awarded the hospital two excellent grades for the two categories it scrutinises during its Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) inspections.

The PEAT inspections were launched in 2000 and take place annually during the first three months of the year. The inspections measure hospitals for cleanliness, food choice and the quality of the hospital environment.

Inspection teams also look at how user-friendly a hospital is including its signage and how accessible it is for disabled visitors.

Only 10.3 percent of hospitals in the country achieved excellent for their PEAT inspections.

Cleaning, catering and portering services at Berkeley Hospital are provided by a hotel services department within Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust.

Joan Rachael, assistant hotel services manager, said the team was thrilled at the success of Berkeley.

She said: "This is fantastic news.

"It's a real recognition of all the hard work our hotel services team does 'behind the scenes' to keep our hospitals spotless and make sure our patients can enjoy a pleasant environment."

Jenny Hincks, chairman of the Cotswold and Vale Patients Forum, was a lay member of the inspection team this year and said taking part emphasised how important cleanliness was to a patient's recovery.

"What stood out for me while I was talking to patients on the wards was how 'at home' they feel in our community hospitals," she said.

"They feel they are treated with dignity and respected as individuals. It helps them to get better quicker and eases the time they have to spend in hospital."

Earlier this year staff at Berkeley Hospital helped to launch the national Clean Your Hands campaign which encourages cleanliness among hospital staff and visitors to reduce the risk of communicable diseases such as MRSA.