Saffron Walden Community Hospital rated “excellent” for food

SAFFRON Walden Community Hospital has scored ‘excellent’ for food in a rigorous national assessment.

This improved its rating from ‘good’ last year. Assessors were not only looking at the quality of the food but also at its nutritional value and other factors such as protected meal times.

The hospital once again scored ‘good’ for quality of environment and was also rated “good’ for privacy and dignity compared to ‘excellent’ last year.

The annual Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) assessments cover NHS hospitals and inpatient units with 10 or more beds.

PEAT assessments, which are managed by the National Patient Safety Agency, score NHS organisations from one (unacceptable) to five (excellent) with the aim of driving up standards in the non-clinical aspects of a patient’s healthcare experience.

Lead nurse for West Essex Community Health Services, Phil Wing, said: “We are very pleased to score positively in these assessments and this is down to the continuing commitment of our dedicated staff.

“We will continue to look for ways to improve what we do with the aim of doing even better next year.”