Summary
This publication providers the results from the 2025 Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) Programme.
PLACE assessments are an annual appraisal of the non-clinical aspects of NHS and independent/private healthcare settings, undertaken by teams made up of members of the public (known as patient assessors) and staff. The team must include a minimum of 2 patient assessors, making up at least 50 per cent of the group.
PLACE assessments provide a framework for assessing quality against common guidelines and standards in order to quantify the facility’s cleanliness, food and hydration provision, the extent to which the provision of care with privacy and dignity is supported, and whether the premises are equipped to meet the needs of people with dementia or with a disability.
The PLACE collection underwent a major national review between 2018 – 2019, significantly revising the question set and guidance documentation. Annual review continues before each programme to ensure this collection remains relevant and delivers its aims. The 2019 established a new baseline, and scores are not comparable with any previously published.
From 2022, we enforced minimum patient assessor numbers and ratios, and assessments not meeting this standard were excluded from the national results (and therefore are not comparable to previous datasets). Users should also bear in mind that the 2022 programme was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic (and received fewer completed assessments), so later results should not be compared with earlier years.
Key Facts
1,080 assessments were undertaken in 2025 compared to 1,107 in 2024
3 sites were excluded as they did not fully complete their assessments. A further 9 sites were excluded as they did not fully meet the required patient‑to‑staff ratio for the assessments. Our findings are based on the 1,068 remaining assessments
Overall, the highest national average domain score in 2025 was for cleanliness, at 98.6%.
Please note that any reports of incorrect data subsequent to publication will be reported in the data quality information (which would be revised). If possible, we will provide indicative results, but will not be making any corrections due to the complex nature of the question set, scoring and publication products.
Last edited: 26 February 2026 9:32 am
