Summary guidance

1. Ensure NHS England have the correct contacts for PLACE at your organisation, and that everyone who requires access to the portal has accounts. To do this, contact us on [email protected].
2. On the EFM portal, (https://efm.digital.nhs.uk) check that the correct qualifying site(s) are listed for your organisation and contact us on the address above if not. Each year, we mirror the sites from the previous year on the EFM portal, so you do not need to wait for the current collection to open. Guidance for what constitutes an eligible site can be found on the Guidance on the organisation of assessments – essentially, and units where assessment and treatment are carried out, regardless of bed numbers.
3. Read the guidance on submitting data, available from the “documents” tab within the PLACE module on EFM. We encourage you to use the PLACE-mobile option to submit data (separate guidance available in the Supporting guidance section) this will save you lots of time as you agreed scores can be entered during the assessment itself. You don’t need a Wi-Fi connection to enter data as it is saved locally to your device, and you can upload it later once you have a connection.
4. The assessment period (which includes submission of completed data) will be advised via [email protected].
5. All data must be submitted via the EFM portal: https://efm.digital.nhs.uk

It is the responsibility of the healthcare site/organisation to organise assessments, and recruit and prepare staff and patient assessors for the assessment day(s). It is important to familiarise yourself with all guidance and assessment forms, especially the following:

1. Guidance on the organisation of assessments.
2. Guidance to organisations on the recruitment and preparation of patient assessors.

Detailed guidance on dementia, and condition and appearance scoring can be found in specific documents available on the same page. You should share guidance with patient assessors (guidance and information for patient assessors) and staff assessors (guidance for services) in advance, and you may wish to invite your assessors in for a training session beforehand, particularly if the team are new to the process. There are some slides on the page above that you can adapt for your purposes, and it would be beneficial to attend any webinars offered by NHS England over the summer.

1. You will need to assess a minimum of 25% of your wards (or all wards if there are less than 10) and 25% of your non-ward areas, and your patient assessors should decide which areas to assess (allowing for things such as closures or infections). Guidance on sampling is included in the guidance on the organisation of assessments.
2. Scores must be based on the conditions seen at the time of the assessment, against the defined criteria and guidance (no allowances for weather, building works, the next scheduled cleaning or age of buildings).
3. Each assessment team should have a leader appointed (patient or staff assessor) and all scores should be a joint decision made by only the patient assessors. It is acceptable for staff to challenge patient assessors and discuss their scoring comments, but patient assessors must have the final say. Teams must base their scoring on what is observed and said rather than relying on statements of policy or assertions of what usually happens. The staff assessors’ roles are to show patient assessors round the facility and answer any questions, and to record the scores using PLACE mobile. If paper forms are being used, patient assessors should record scores and present them to the staff assessors for data entry. All scores recorded on EFM must reflect the joint decision of the patient assessors.
4. Only one form for each area should be completed. This includes the Patient Assessor Summary Sheet, which should be used to jointly record agreed scores and any comments, although one of these should be included for each assessment day. The staff team should complete the Organisational Food and Organisational Facilities scorecards. All others must be scored by the patient assessors.
5. Certain criteria must be met for your results to be included in the PLACE results. If they are not met, your data will be removed from the collection and excluded from the PLACE results (and you will not receive official scores):
   1. The patient assessor complement requirement of each assessment team must be met (that is, a minimum of 2 patient assessors and a minimum of 50% assessors being patient rather than staff assessors). If you are struggling with numbers, you will need to rearrange your assessment, but please consult the documentation for what can constitute a patient assessor (anyone who has not worked for your organisation (not site) during the previous 2 years).
   2. For a question to be scored as “N/A” the appropriate criteria must be met. If in doubt, contact the PLACE team.
   3. Certain assessment scorecards must always be include:
      1. Organisation facilities
      2. Communal areas
      3. External areas
      4. Food assessment (if there is a food service)
      5. One Ward assessment and/or Outpatient assessment as a minimum, depending on the site type
   4. If a food assessment is undertaken, it must include a minimum of 7 food items (with a maximum of 14). It is recommended to taste and score the maximum number (14) of items across the whole meal services to ensure consistency of scoring. Assessments should be undertaken on the ward or close by it, from the same food as provided to the patients. The practice of sampling food in a separate area with food specifically provided to assessors is not acceptable. Food should be tasted at the end of patient meal service to ensure that temperatures have been maintained at an acceptable level for the last patient to be served (although assessors can take into account any time delay between final service and their sampling).
   5. A ward food assessment should be completed for each food service provision sampled, in line with the minimum food assessments required (which will be generated when you set up your site on EFM). More than one meal service should be sampled (with a separate form for each) if possible.
   6. Where there is a mix of catering and patient self-provision, assessment should be undertaken for service provided by the site/organisation.
   7. Dementia scoring must be undertaken unless the site never admits patients with dementia (for example, paediatric services). This can be specified on completion of site information in EFM. Unless such patients are specifically excluded, these questions need to be answered, bearing in mind that patients may not have a diagnosis of dementia.
   8. There must be no disputes referenced in the assessment notes. The lead assessor may contact us to express any concerns and a fresh assessment may be requested.

1. Independent assessor review is good practice (utilising somebody with previous experience of PLACE) attends at another organisation and ensures it is conducted in line with published guidance. A list of independent assessors and their contact details will be provided with the launch email. Independent reviewers do not normally formally take place in the assessment so do not count as a staff or patient assessor – if numbers are short on the day however, they could act as either instead of being an independent assessor.
2. Provide feedback session for patient assessors, giving examples of where their contribution has made a positive difference for patients. For example, replacement of worn items.
3. Report to your board, bearing in mind that PLACE may not be comparable with previous results, and that 100% is unlikely. It’s about identifying improvements rather than chasing 100%.
4. Draw up an action plan (you can use the template on EFM).
5. Complete PLACE-Lite assessments throughout the year, to address specific aspects or areas, or a complete assessment. This allows organisations to ensure ongoing standards and to review action progress and resolutions from the previous year’s programme if required.