St Luke’s Hospice has been praised by a panel of NHS experts following its second Patient-Led Assessment of the Care Environment (PLACE), achieving improved scores across every category assessed.
PLACE assessments are carried out annually across NHS and independent healthcare settings, focusing on the non-clinical aspects of care - such as privacy and dignity, food quality, cleanliness, building condition, and how well the environment supports people living with dementia or with a disability.
Teams made up of NHS staff and members of the public, known as patient assessors, visited St Luke’s at the beginning of December as part of the 2025 programme, which involved more than 1,080 assessments nationwide.
During their assessment, they explored how well the hospice’s environment supports the provision of clinical care and identified any potential areas for improvement.
And the results for St Luke’s have now been published – achieving outstanding results across the board: a 99.56% rating for cleanliness, 100% for food, 99.17% for the hospice building’s condition and appearance, and an 88.89% rating for dignity.
The hospice was also assessed from a dementia friendly aspect, achieving an 89.23% rating, and 86.11% for disability access.
All scores show an improvement on the hospice’s 2024 results, with the dementia-friendly rating seeing one of the most significant rises - from 75.91% in 2024 to 89.23% in 2025, placing St Luke’s above the national average of 85.68%.
The assessment was coordinated and hosted by Amanda Coddington, St Luke’s Patient Experience Lead.
“I am delighted with the results we have achieved in our second PLACE assessment,” she said. “Every score reflects improvement from last year, but our dementia-friendly rating is a particular achievement.”
“Moving from 75.91% to 89.23% in just a year is testament to the hard work of our teams, who are committed to creating the best possible environment for our patients, and their loved ones, living with dementia or cognitive impairment.”
“This is something we are truly passionate about, and strive to improve over the coming years as we continue with projects in this vital area. I’m grateful to the assessors for spending the day with us and sharing their honest feedback and ideas, and I look forward to building on this success in future PLACE assessments.”