The Hospice of the Good Shepherd has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent body responsible for regulating providers of health and social care in England.
Following a lengthy and in-depth inspection of every aspect of the hospice’s activities and processes, the CQC inspection team rated the hospice ‘Outstanding’ under the assessment categories of Effective, Caring and Well-led, while the Safe and Responsive categories were rated as ‘Good’.
“There isn’t a single member of the hospice family – patients, carers, nursing, medical, fundraising, finance, catering, housekeeping, cleaning, support staff, volunteers and supporters – that isn’t excited and delighted by this news,” said hospice Director of Clinical Services, Claire Royce. “It underlines the immense sense of pride and satisfaction that each of us feels about working in this amazing place and making a difference to so many lives, regardless of our individual roles,” she added.
CQC Deputy Director of Hospitals in the North West, Gill Hodgson-Reilly explained: “At the Hospice of the Good Shepherd we found a service committed to providing exceptional care during some of the most difficult times of people’s lives. “People were extremely positive about the care and support they received and described staff as being respectful and supportive, and who delivered care in a safe and confidential way.”
This positive feedback, said Gill Hodgson-Reilly, was reflected in a survey which showed 100% of people’s overall experience was rated as ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’. The hospice had also received 298 compliments which demonstrated that kindness, compassion and dignity were embedded in its culture.
She continued: “Staff and leaders should be proud of the many positive findings in our report, which highlight their exceptional and important care and support.”
The inspection team described the hospice as exceptional in maximising the effectiveness of people’s care and treatment by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.
Also rated as exceptional was the way we made sure there were always enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff who themselves received thorough support, supervision and strong development opportunities.
Staff delivered holistic, personalised care, said the inspectors. Our staff are described as respectful and supportive, delivering dignified end-of-life care in a person-centred, inclusive way with patients involved in decision-making.
They are also described as attentive, approachable, and proactive in identifying and addressing patient concerns.
Relatives commented to the inspectors how well our staff explained medications, symptoms and what to expect, reducing anxiety during end of life care.
The report states that our staff empowered patients to make their own decisions about their care and treatment. One patient commented: ‘I felt heard for the first time’. Other patients reported that staff ‘truly listen’.
The quality of care was rated as ‘outstanding’ with one family member sharing: ‘Every single person who looked after my beautiful daughter treated her like family. They looked after her through highs and lows and gave full support to her and her frightened family’.
These heartfelt testimonials reflect the hospice’s commitment to person-centred care, compassion, ensuring that every patient and family feels valued, supported and heard.
Our commitment to workforce wellbeing is also highlighted as exceptional. “The service always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling them to always deliver person-centred care.”
We are described as ‘outstanding’ in terms of leadership with the report describing the hospice as having ‘exceptionally inclusive leaders at all levels’ who embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation.
Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They always did so with integrity, openness and honesty, the inspectors noted.
They also noted that the hospice supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduced their future needs for care and support through the work of the hospice’s Living Well outpatient centre which delivers clinical, emotional, and social support for patients and carers.
The inspectors noted that volunteer involvement was integral to the Living Well service, offering companionship where desired and enabling patients to access outings and social engagement.
Chair of Trustees Yvonne Emmett Cannell commented: “We are incredibly proud, this outcome reflects the extraordinary care our teams provide to patients and families every day, often at some of the most difficult moments in their lives.
“To achieve an Outstanding rating requires exceptional individual leadership from everyone involved. I would like to thank our staff, volunteers, my fellow trustees and wider partners for the leadership, dedication and hard work that made this possible. “We remain focused on continuing to deliver the highest standard of compassionate care to patients and families.”
Hospice Chief Executive Richard Soulsby added: “I hope that every one of our legion of supporters will share in the pleasure and pride that we all feel as a result of this wonderful development.”