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The clinical site team at Good Hope Hospital is taking a fresh approach to making sure patients get a restful night’s sleep.

Following recent feedback through patient experience surveys, which showed some patients were having trouble falling and staying asleep, the team launched a ‘Good night Good Hope’ audit of all inpatient areas.

Each ward was visited at least three times over night, where the darkness of the environment was reviewed, as well as any potential disturbances such as loud talking, music, doors, bins and machinery noises. Stocks of patient night packs containing eye masks and ear plugs were also checked.

The team recorded what they saw, heard and asked colleagues some general questions.

Gemma Beagen, Lead Nurse Site Integrity, said: “Good quality sleep can have a real impact on wellbeing and help boost recovery.

"This audit has enabled us to identify three key areas of focus, the first being around how we get our patients ready for sleep each night, how we prepare the ward environment and how we can further educate our teams in sleep hygiene.

"We are working through our best sleep environment action plan and will monitor patient feedback as well as re-auditing again in six months’ time.”