A CARE centre in Swindon has been hailed a top service offering patients the respect and dignity they deserve following a thorough inspection.

The Swindon Intermediate Care Centre (SwICC), based next door to the Great Western Hospital, achieved an overall score of 95 per cent, with almost perfect marks of 99.4 per cent for cleanliness in its annual Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment.

The service, which is run by social enterprise company SEQOL, not only beat its own 2013 score of 92.08 per cent but the nationwide average of 91.43 per cent.

“We are very pleased, it’s a whole team approach and everybody is responsible for this,” said business manager Maria Gallo.

“When the scores were published, they came out better than last year and it was a huge relief.

“Privacy and dignity are the key things we are looking at and our goal is to maintain the standard and improve upon it.

“Although the assessment happens over one day once a year, we are constantly checking that we are not slipping down. We want to make sure that everybody’s experience is a positive as it can be.”

The centre was also above the national averages from last year’s inspections, scoring 94.3 per cent for food and 97.2 per cent for condition, appearance and maintenance of the building.

SwICC, which provides treatment and rehabilitation for long-term health conditions, was inspected and scored on a number of different aspects, including cleanliness, food, privacy, dignity and wellbeing, condition, appearance and maintenance.

The PLACE assessments see local people and health staff team up to evaluate how well the environment supports patients’ privacy and dignity, food, cleanliness and general building maintenance.

Jan Trethewey, SEQOL customer experience director, said: “SwICC’s approach to care is truly centred around the individual and wherever possible enables people to regain confidence and return back to their former lives, following a stay in the unit.

“We are extremely proud of the scores we have achieved at SwICC, which show the hard work and dedication of our SEQOL colleagues and Carillion staff to ensuring that the people of Swindon have the best experience possible.”