The standard of care provided by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is well above the national average, according to the latest inspections carried out by patient representatives.

The NSFT improved upon their scores of last year in categories from cleanliness to ward food and dementia care, and were placed firmly within the top half of trusts in the country.

The trust's stand out service appears to be their disability care, which stands above the national average by near 10pc, at a score of 97.55pc.

Likewise, their most improved care serviice has been their organisational food, which has improved in rating by 7.39pc from 90.96pc in 2017.

The inspections were carried out by a team which included patient representatives, who visited nine sites across Norfolk and Suffolk earlier this year.

These included Hellesdon Hospital, the Norvic Clinic and the Julian Hospital in Norwich, the Fermoy Unit in King's Lynn, Northgate Hospital in Great Yarmouth, Woodlands in Ipswich and Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds.

The trust had improved in every category; cleanliness, food, both organisational and ward, privacy, dignity, wellbeing, condition and maintenance, as well as dementia and disability care/

Julie Cave, managing director at NSFT, said: 'Ensuring that our service users and patients can enjoy good quality food in clean, well-kept, dementia-friendly buildings is a priority for NSFT, and can also have a big impact on the experience which people have when accessing our services.

'We are pleased that these results show we have improved in every area compared to 2017, as well as out-performing the national average.

'We have invested significantly in improving the environments from which we deliver care, spending around £6.7m since 2016 on creating single bedrooms and quiet rooms, improving lighting, installing new windows and making our wards safer by removing ligature risks.

'However, there are always things we could do better and we will continue to focus on areas where further improvements can be made so that we can improve still further in next year's inspection.'

Every NHS organisation completes PLACE annually, with patients, service users, Healthwatch members, staff and the public all forming part of the inspection team.