Butterwick Hospice has been upgraded from inadequate to good following a visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May.
As well as the overall rating, the ratings for how safe, effective, responsive, and well-led the hospice has also improved from inadequate to good, meaning all five categories inspected – the other being caring – are now good.
Inspectors say patients feel safe at the hospice in a new report – with staff being described as “attentive, welcoming, and supportive”.
The watchdog found that staff treated people with kindness and respect whilst demonstrating effective communication skills – with unprompted feedback from relatives describing care as “being of the highest standard”.
Edward Gorringe, Chief Executive of Butterwick Hospice (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
Edward Gorringe, chief executive, said he was “delighted” by the news, saying it was the outcome of “several years of hard work” from the Butterwick team.
Care users treated with ‘dignity and respect’
As previously reported, Butterwick Hospice was rated inadequate following an inspection in November 2019, with all areas but caring rated inadequate.
The probe found “significant safety concerns” in areas such as disclosure and barring checks for staff and registered nurse’s verification checks.
However, the new inspection found the registered manager had responded positively to the concerns raised and the conditions we imposed.
Inspectors said it was evident the service now had a culture of safety and learning, and staff and leaders told them learning from complaints and incidents was now shared with teams during meetings, handovers, and individual supervision.
The service now provides care and treatment in a way that makes patients feel safe, supported, and listened to, with the site having a strong understanding of safeguarding and how to take appropriate action.
Butterwick Hospice (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
Butterwick Hospice was also found to maximise the effectiveness of care and treatment by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing, and communication needs.
Patients and families reported staff – who are “visible and available” on the ward – made them feel safe and thought they were competent in their roles.
One feedback seen by inspectors said: “Your hospice is a wonderful, serene place and your staff are all so special.”
Another said: “‘Not only was he given medical care of the highest standard, but everyone involved in helping my father only showed him complete care and utter respect.
“This meant that he was able to maintain his dignity to the end – so important for such a strong and dignified man.”
Staff actively involved people in their own health monitoring, including with external health and care professionals, so people “felt involved in decisions about their care”.
People were also provided with the appropriate equipment for their individually assessed needs, with risk assessments in place to support people who had additional needs around things like risks of falls, or eating and drinking.
The service controlled infection risk well and the equipment and the premises were visibly clean, with controlled substances and hazardous equipment securely locked away.
All staff had opportunities to learn, and poor performance was managed appropriately, with the site having enough competent and confident staff to support patients’ day-to-day activities.
There was a service level agreement, with the local NHS trust, to ensure consistent staffing numbers. All staff were subject to a DBS check.
There were still some issues raised by inspectors, including how volunteers did not always receive the correct level of safeguarding training.
Documents used to capture individuals’ preferences to ensure equity in experiences and outcomes were also found to be incomplete.
However, the service took immediate action to arrange training following this assessment.
The positive report for Butterwick comes amid a crisis facing hospices across the country, with Mr Gorringe telling The Northern Echo late last year how there was an “urgent” need to tackle funding issues – warning it can only sustain its current situation “for a limited period of time”.
The Government last month (December 19) announced a £100 million investment in adult and children’s hospices in a bid to support hospices – although details regarding its impact on Butterwick specifically remain unknown.
Butterwick ‘delighted’ over ‘important milestone’
A full statement from Mr Gorringe regarding the CQC report said: “We are delighted that after inspecting our service the CQC have given Butterwick Hospice an overall rating of Good.
“They noted the significant improvements that had been made since their last inspection, leading to a rating of good in all five areas assessed.
“This result is the outcome of several years of hard work by the team at Butterwick, ably supported by our partners at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.
“The whole purpose of Butterwick is to support our patients and their families, it was therefore particularly pleasing to read of the unprompted feedback from relatives describing our care as being of the highest standard, and how it enabled people to have a dignified end.
“We look forward to building on this important milestone and continuing to serve our local communities. ”
Victoria Marsden, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: “We found the service had made significant improvements since our last inspection with the registered manager responding positively to the concerns raised and conditions we imposed to focus their attention on specific improvements.
“People told us they now felt safe, and that staff were attentive, welcoming, and supported them to be as independent as possible.
“An effective partnership with the local NHS trust was in place, and senior leaders from the hospice told us that they were active members of Hospices North East and Cumbria, a collective group working towards achieving excellence.
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“The service had clearly benefited from the shared knowledge and skills this partnership brought, improving people’s experiences as a result.
“Staff treated people with kindness and respect whilst demonstrating effective communication skills. Unprompted feedback from relatives described care as being of the highest standard and that it enabled people to have a dignified end.
“Everyone at Butterwick Hospice should be proud of their efforts to improve the service. We have shared our findings with them so they can continue to build on their progress.”