Top ten hospital (From Stroud News and Journal)

Top ten hospital

STROUD Hospital is in the top ten percent of UK hospitals for the quality of its food and overall patient environment.

In an announcement by the Department of Health on Thursday of the annual PEAT (patient environment action team) inspectionsm a double 'Excellent' was awarded to the hospital.

"This is fantastic news," said assistant hotel services manager, Joan Rachael. "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."

The annual PEAT inspections, measure UK hospitals for cleanliness, food choice and quality, privacy and dignity, and the quality of the hospital environment.

Jenny Hincks, Chair of the Cotswold and Vale Patients Forum, was a lay member of the inspection team this year. As well as inspecting community hospitals for cleanliness and overall environment, the team also shared a meal with patients and sampled what was on the hospital menu that day.

"Good food and cleanliness are so important to patient recovery," said Mrs Hincks. "What stood out for me while I was talking to patients on the wards was how 'at home' they feel in our community hospitals. "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, Cotswold and Vale's community hospitals were among the first to launch the national Clean Your Hands campaign, which encourages scrupulous ceanliness as a weapon in the fight against communicable disease, such as MRSA.

"I get compliments all the time about how clean and well looked after our hospitals are," says Joan Rachael. "It's down to the quality of our staff, and gives me a real sense of pride in the work that we do here."