Above the line . How organisations move from the PLACE median to the top decile
White paper 1 of 5 . For Public Healthcare Chairs, DoFs and Chief Nurses
Executive summary
The national PLACE cleanliness average is now 98.6%. Organisations sitting at 96% or below are three percentage points behind the national line and cannot close the gap by working the current model harder. The ceiling is structural. It is set by staffing depth, by the age of the cleanliness regime and by how visible governance is to the CQC. The paper argues that PLACE is a proxy for governance discipline, that the organisations moving above the national line have made the same three shifts and that governed soft-FM outsourcing is the fastest and most auditable way to make those shifts.
The organisations that move above the national line have made the same three shifts. Staffing depth. A modern cleanliness regime. Visible governance.
What is inside
- What PLACE actually measures
- What the top-decile organisations do differently
- Why in-house intensification does not close the gap
- Governed outsourcing as the mechanism
- Case reference. CS-018 PLACE lift
- What a Chair should ask before the next PLACE cycle
Full paper
Key numbers
- 98.6%
- PLACE 2025 national cleanliness average
- 401
- Sites scoring 100% cleanliness in 2025
- +0.3 pts
- National increase year on year
- 6
- PLACE domains assessed
Share
Cleared for external sharing with an organisation colleague.
Trellis Meriden Health and Care
Part of the Governed First-Outsourcing knowledge bank. Verified 30 August 2026.