Hospital food rated excellent by watchdog

Cleanliness along with privacy and dignity were also rated four out of five in the survey, carried out by the annual Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) for 2008. A different story was told earlier in the year, as the trust was forced to apologise for serving a mouldy potato to a patient in April. All three hospitals maintained their scores from 2007 for food and privacy and dignity while Glenfield Hospital improved its environment score, going from 3 in 2007 to 4 in 2008. The scoring system ranges from one, which is unacceptable, to five, which is excellent. Rob Pinsent, director of facilities at the hospitals, said: "We are really pleased with our PEAT inspection scores. Hospital food, cleanliness and privacy and dignity go right to the heart of patients' confidence in our hospitals. "Our results not only reflect the views of our patients - with nine out of 10 rating us good or excellent at what we do - they're also testament to the enormous amount of hard work made by all staff within our three hospitals. "While our scores continue to improve, we are not complacent. These results will help us to focus our efforts to improve patients' experiences further across our sites." Patient Environment Action Teams were established in 2000 to assess NHS hospitals. Under the programme, every hospital in England with more than ten beds is assessed annually and given a rating of excellent, good, acceptable, poor or unacceptable. The teams inspect standards across a range of patient services including of food, cleanliness, infection control, and patient environment (bathroom areas, décor, lighting, floors and patient access) to give the hospital an overall rating. Each site is inspected by a Patient Environment Action Team which consists of teams of NHS staff, including nurses, matrons, doctors, catering and domestic service managers, executive and non-executive directors, dieticians and estates directors. They also include patients, patient representatives and members of the public.