Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust is looking for people in Okehampton interested in inspecting their town's hospital.

The trust, which runs North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple and a series of 17 community hospitals across the region, aims to recruit a pool of volunteers in each area to ensure there are enough people to join staff in assessing issues such as cleanliness, meals, the condition and suitability of buildings, and how the privacy and dignity of patients are respected.

The recruitment drive is part of a new national system of annual inspections known as PLACE, Patient-led Assessments of the Care Environment.

Recent patients, their friends and relatives, trust members and volunteers are all eligible to take part, to ensure that the patient's voice is heard loud and clear when inspection reports are published each year.

Patient assessors will need to set aside between five and ten hours for an inspection, including preparation and input into the report. Above all, they need to be prepared to make their voices heard in a constructive and supportive way.

Recent personal experience of hospital care would be useful, but not essential.

The trust will cover expenses and provide training, as well as doing all it can to help patient assessors and make them feel welcome.

Further details are available from the