Whanganui Hospital will be assessed for the kind of patient care it is giving as the district health board attempts to take a snapshot of 600 patients in its care.

According to the health board in New Zealand, such a survey would be held for the first time in both hospital and the community.

The health and disability commissioner will audit the hospital and high-profile patient safety problems in recent years would be seen.

Health board staff from tomorrow will examine case notes and observe how the staff looks after patients at Whanganui Hospital and 15 nursing and rest homes.

Safety Centre general manager Sandy Blake said, "You can't hide a pressure sore that's been there for a week. I'm not expecting to see good or bad results. We will end up with data that we can use to benchmark ourselves against other hospitals."

Every 12 months the survey would be to weigh if the hospital was making progress. About $6000 would be needed for carrying the survey out.