Care Quality Commission (CQC) praises Hospice

Inspectors who recently rated our Hospice as outstanding have said they were struck by how caring we are towards those using our services.

Under the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) new programme of inspections, all adult social care services are given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

When they visited us in April inspectors rated our Hospice as Outstanding overall – Outstanding for being caring and well-led and Good for being safe, effective and responsive.

Jemima Burnage, the CQC’s Head of Inspection for Adult Social Care in the central region said: “We were impressed with what we found during our inspection of St Nicholas Hospice and inspectors were struck by how caring staff were to those using the service.

“People spoke of a service that was tailor-made for them and their families saying that staff truly went the extra mile to offer understanding, empathy and choices

“Staff were motivated and keen to convey to inspectors their pride in the service they worked at. People spoke overwhelmingly of the positive support, guidance and healthcare interventions they had received.

“People were full of praise of the staff in terms of their kindness, compassion and knowledge about end of life matters.

“Staff knew, understood and responded to each person’s diverse cultural, gender and spiritual needs in a caring and compassionate way. There were a wide variety of bereavement support services available for both adults and children.

“There was a kindness and warmth about the management team that made them approachable to everyone and people knew them by their first names and told us they were visible, approachable and solved matters raised.

“All of this meant people received a high standard of care, which is why it has been rated Outstanding.”

During the unannounced visit the team of inspectors spoke to 19 people who used inpatient and Hospice at Home services, 12 relatives and visitors, five volunteers and more than 15 members of staff.

They said they found that our staff and volunteers were caring and compassionate and people were being provided with safe, responsive, caring, effective and well-led care.

Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said: “The quality of care which our inspectors found here was exceptional and I am very pleased that we can celebrate the service’s achievements.

“An outstanding service is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone involved.”

The full inspection report can be read here. You can read the full press release from the CQC here.