Community hospitals in Axminster and Seaton receive top marks for non-clinical services.

COMMUNITY hospitals in Axminster and Seaton received top marks for providing excellent non-clinical services for patients, inspectors have revealed.

The hospitals were rated as excellent in all three categories of food, environment, including cleanliness, and privacy and dignity.

The figures were published by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) on the back of its annual Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) assessments.

Inspectors checked all acute and community hospitals in England for their standards in non-clinical areas.

Janet McKay, matron at Axminster, said: “All the teams at Axminster Hospital have worked extremely hard this year to have an improvement in their PEAT scores.

“I am very proud of everyone who works at Axminster as it is a real team effort.”

Hospitals rated as excellent are said to consistently exceed expectations, with little if any room for improvement.

Emma Bagwell, matron at Seaton, added: “At Seaton we pride ourselves on a whole team approach.

“High standards of cleanliness and patient satisfaction regarding environment and food are very important to us.

“To achieve such a high standard demonstrates the commitment of all staff to the care of our patients.

“I am extremely proud of them all.”

Honiton Hospital was also rated as excellent in two of the categories and good in the third.

The seven community hospitals in Devon, including Axminster, Seaton and Honiton, are managed by the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust.

Kate Lyons, director of operations for the trust, said: “We are pleased that the majority of our hospitals in East Devon have been rated as excellent all round, and that each one achieved a minimum score of good.

“The issues of cleanliness, food and privacy are very important and we do all we can to provide our patients with a high-quality service and experience.

“On the whole our hospitals have performed strongly and, by addressing areas in need of improvement, we are confident of maintaining and building on these high standards in the future.