Archived: Douglas House

During this inspection we spoke with two people who used the hospice and with four staff members. We looked at two care files. We found that staff treated people with dignity and respect. For example we observed care workers involving people in conversations and people told us they were treated with respect. Staff ensured that people's privacy was protected when care tasks were undertaken. People told us that the hospice was flexible which enabled them to plan their care around their lives.

We found that staff were familiar with the risks described in people's care plans and knew how to support people appropriately. We saw people were assessed by the in-house occupational and physiotherapists when needed.

We found the hospice had suitable arrangements in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff we spoke with knew how to identify abuse and how to implement the safeguarding procedure. We found that any identified or suspected abuse was addressed appropriately.

We found people were cared for, or supported by suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff. The provider had undertaken the required recruitment checks. People we spoke with described staff as 'nice, good and friendly'.

We found that the service had a written procedure for managing complaints. We saw that all complaints had been investigated and appropriately responded to in line with the policy. One person told us, 'Staff are always willing to listen to anything that I might not like when I am here. We always find a solution together'.

We saw evidence in the care pathway notes of cooperation with other providers to protect people's health and welfare and we observed that medicines were handled safely and appropriately. All of the staff we spoke to said they were well trained and received appropriate professional development and this was corroborated by documentation. However, the provider may wish to note that there was a low level of scheduled diversity training.