DAWLISH Hospital has achieved an 'excellent' result in the Patient Environment Action Team (Peat) annual assessment. The hospital achieved the result for both environmental and food categories. Peat was established in 2000 to assess NHS hospitals. Under the programme, every inpatient healthcare facility in England with more than 10 beds is assessed annually and given a rating of excellent, good, acceptable, poor or unacceptable. Peat consists of NHS staff, including nurses, matrons, doctors, catering and domestic service managers, executive and non-executive directors, dieticians and estates directors. They also include patients, patient representatives, members of the public, and, for this area, the Teignbridge Public and Patient Involvement Forum. Standards of cleanliness and food are also inspected. A new category in the last two years also assesses how well the environment supports privacy and dignity, looking at segregation of men and women in sleeping areas and toilets/bathrooms with more detailed arrangements for privacy in mental health units. Teignbridge Primary Care Trust's operations director Pat McDonagh said: 'These excellent results reflect the commitment of our staff in maintaining the highest standards for our patients.'