The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded the rating of Douglas Macmillan Hospice in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, from good to outstanding following an inspection in December.
Douglas Macmillan Hospice, which is run by an organisation of the same name and known locally as ‘Dougie Mac,’ provides specialist palliative and end-of-life care to people with progressive, advanced disease and a limited life expectancy. The service provides care and support both within the hospice environment and in people’s own homes depending on their care preferences and needs.
The inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.
CQC has upgraded the rating of Douglas Macmillan Hospice from good to outstanding for how safe, effective, caring and well-led it is. Responsive was re-rated as outstanding.
Roger James, CQC director of hospitals, said:
“When we visited Douglas Macmillan Hospice, we found a positive culture which put people at the heart of their own care, creating a trusted relationship between staff, people and their loved ones all while ensuring their safety and wellbeing.
“We found staff supported people to be fully involved in their care planning, helping them to maintain as much control as possible, while also enabling staff to fully identify and meet people’s care preferences and choices. It was clear staff prioritised people’s individual needs and what mattered to them. For example, staff had brought Christmas forward for one family so they could celebrate together, while another person was able to see a reindeer for the first time.
“Leaders encouraged staff to find and think about creative ways to ensure people lived with as few restrictions as possible. We saw several examples of staff enabling people to take positive risks to maximise their control over their own care and treatment, with regular and open conversations taking place between staff and people about the risks to their health.
“As part of the hospice’s culture, it was apparent that leaders gave staff thorough support and development opportunities, enabling them to work well together to provide safe care for people. The service invited doctors to teach sessions about the essentials in palliative care, which were well attended by staff. An actor had also come into the hospice so staff could role play in areas such as having difficult conversations to help ease real life situations for them, people and their loved ones.
“Overall, leaders and staff should be incredibly proud of the care they provide and the culture they have implemented, which is clearly appreciated by people and the local community.”
Inspectors found:
- Staff treated people with dignity, respect and compassion and developed person-centred care plans for everyone, identifying important information and understanding their cultural, social and religious needs.
- Staff showed genuine empathy for the people they cared for. People felt listened to and staff communicated with them in a way they understood.
- Staff encouraged people to challenge themselves while recognising and respecting their individual lifestyle choices.
- Staff enabled people to see what the service could offer them and let them engage with it at their own pace. People and those close to them were able to access advice and support and staff signposted them to other services when required, such as social or financial support.
- Leaders investigated incidents and carefully reviewed themes and trends of them all, such as safeguarding concerns and falls, to proactively address these. Lessons learned were then shared with the whole team.
- Staff made sure medicines were safely stored and prescribed, and supported people to manage their own medicines safely.
- Staff worked closely with other services to ensure continuity of care for people and collaborated across the healthcare network to provide timely access to things such as medication, equipment and community support for people and their loved ones.
- People were able to experience comfortable and pain-free end of life care, and the service provided bereavement support services to families, depending on their needs and preferences.