St Joseph's Hospice

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

Patients and their families reported feeling safe and cared for, with clear communication regarding care-planning and next steps. Staff routinely completed and updated risk assessments to identify and minimise risks, with risk assessments considering patients who were deteriorating and for patients in the last days or hours of life. The hospice employed a shared electronic patient record system, facilitating seamless transitions between inpatient, outpatient, and community services. Comprehensive discharge summaries were shared with GPs, district nurses, and care homes to maintain continuity of care. Staff were well-trained and up to date with mandatory training, covering key areas such as safeguarding, infection control, Mental Capacity Act, and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Managers ensured appropriate staffing levels, with the flexibility to adjust according to patient needs. Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings, held regularly, promoted effective communication and coordination between internal teams and external partners, such as local trusts, GPs, and district nursing teams.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Learning culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

Patients and their families we spoke with throughout our assessment felt safe, cared for and knew who to contact for support. They told us they were involved in the planning of their care and kept informed about what would happen next.

Staff completed and updated risk assessments for each patient and removed or minimised risks. Staff told us they had access to and were supported with all the training they needed to deliver safe care to patients.

The service worked well with local partners such as the local trust, GP’s, the ICB and district nursing teams. The services consultants in palliative medicine split their time working in the hospice and the local trusts hospital. Positive feedback was received from partner organisations we spoke with who told us they worked very closely with the hospice to support the palliative care and end of life needs of patients. Regular MDT meetings were held to allow for effective triage, communication and patient hand-over.

There were effective systems and processes in place, and a strong awareness of the risks to patients in each part of the service. Risk assessments considered patients who were deteriorating and in the last days or hours of their life. All services offered by the hospice had a shared electronic patient record which supported seamless transition of care between inpatient, outpatient and community-based services. The service ensured that all patients discharged from the inpatient unit had comprehensive medical and nursing discharge summaries and assessments, care plans and any appropriate documents were shared with care homes. A visit summary is shared with the GP and district nurses updating on outcome of consultation and highlighting any actions for the GP.

We did not look at Safeguarding during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Involving people to manage risks during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Safe environments during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

Patients and their families we spoke with told us they saw the same staff throughout their care and that staff were reliable, knowledgeable and caring.

The hospice provided mandatory training in key skills to all staff and made sure everyone completed it. Staff received and kept up-to-date with their mandatory training. Staff we spoke with were up to date with all their mandatory training. They told us there were processes in place to remind them when they were due to undertake training. Community staff told us their staffing levels allowed for manageable caseloads.

The hospice had enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep patients safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment. The mandatory training was comprehensive and met the needs of patients and staff. Staff told us they felt the mandatory training was appropriate and enabled them to do their jobs safely. Mandatory training topics for clinical staff included safeguarding, Mental Capacity Act, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, manual handling and infection control. Managers monitored mandatory training and alerted staff when they needed to update their training. We were shown a database of staff mandatory training numbers and this was used to inform staff when they were due to undertake training. Managers regularly reviewed and adjusted staffing levels and skill mix, and gave all new staff a full induction. The ward manager could adjust staffing levels daily according to the needs of patients. The overall nursing team was flexible and could be moved between wards depending on the needs of patients and the complexity of cases. We were told if one ward had several complex patients and another ward had more simple cases the senior nursing staff would be moved for increased oversight of the complex cases and more junior members of the team would be assigned to the simpler cases. This meant there was flexibility in the system to enable staff to care for patients.

We did not look at Infection prevention and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Medicines optimisation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.