• Hospice service

Hospice at Home West Cumbria

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

Workington Community Hospital, Park Lane, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 2RW (01900) 705200

Provided and run by:
Hospice at Home West Cumbria

All Inspections

14 & 15 November 2023

During a routine inspection

Our rating of this location went down. We rated it as requires improvement because:

  • The provider did not clearly define mandated training, including levels of safeguarding training required by job role.
  • The provider did not ensure all staff completed mandatory training in accordance with the provider’s policy and target compliance rate.
  • Not all staff received appropriate levels of safeguarding training in accordance with Intercollegiate guidance (2019).
  • The provider did not ensure all staff including but not limited to trustee and volunteer reception staff had barring and disclosure (DBS) checks in place.
  • The provider did not have clear, documented ceilings of care in place, and we saw limited intervention or care planning used by the registered general nurses, providing nursing care.
  • The provider had a lack of appropriate systems and processes in place to evidence robust HR management of trustee and volunteer files. The provider did not always ensure staff were competent for their roles.

However:

  • The provider had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe from harm and abuse.
  • They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
  • Staff provided good care and treatment and gave patients pain relief when they needed it.
  • Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families, and carers.
  • The provider planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it.
  • Staff understood the providers vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported, and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

18, 19 and 20 August 2015

During a routine inspection

This inspection of the Hospice at Home West Cumbria took place over three days 18, 19, 20 August 2015. We last inspected this service in January 2014. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the regulations assessed.

Hospice at Home West Cumbria (the service) is a registered charity providing 24 hour nursing care with personal care interventions as appropriate to need and a lymphoedema assessment and treatment service. The service will also support people living in residential or nursing homes or in the acute hospital and community hospital and operates from an office based at Workington Community Hospital. The service aims to help both people and their carers during the last few months, weeks or days of their lives. The care and support supplements that given by community doctors and nurses.

The Hospice at Home West Cumbria provides a specialist Lymphoedema service through its clinics and home visits. [Lymphoedema is a chronic condition where excess fluid is retained in the tissues causing a painful swelling]. There is also a patient, family and bereavement support service available before and following bereavement. All services are provided free of charge.

At the time of our inspection the service had 12 people using the home nursing service. Six people were being visited at home by the Lymphoedema nursing team as their condition did not allow them to attend the service’s clinics. In addition the service provided Lymphoedema clinics and also made home visits if needed.

The service also offers bereavement support to patients, carers and families (including children as part of the family unit) and complimentary therapies. The complimentary therapies provided included therapeutic massage, Reflexology, Reiki and breathing and relaxation techniques. [Complimentary or ‘holistic’ therapies are therapies that aim to treat the whole person, not just the symptoms of disease].

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Everyone we spoke to whose relatives were or had received care from the service had only positive things to say about their experiences. Comments included, “They are so caring” and “A real community asset” and “So professional”. Staff were proud to be part of the organisation and set themselves high standards to deliver.

We found that the service was well run and had measurable and verifiable processes in place to thoroughly monitor and assess the effectiveness of the care and support services it provided. Systems were also in place to ensure that training and development and research activity were given the time and resources needed to promote the continuous improvement of the service. This approach placed the voices and preferences of the people using the service at its centre. The service also took its expertise out into the broader community through training and educational initiatives. Staff were enthusiastic and showed a deep commitment to providing a high standard of care and expertise.

The staff and management team used reflection and incident analysis to help them make changes to improve the care and support they gave so that they responded quickly to a person’s needs. Forward thinking planning and strategic business planning was very clear and accessible to address the diverse and changing care needs of the local population.

The service worked closely with the hospital palliative care team, GPs, the Macmillan team, community nursing services and external agencies such as social services and mental health team. This helped to make sure smooth cross service working to provide appropriate care to meet people’s different physical, psychological and emotional needs.

There were systems in place to assess and to grade and manage risk. For example, to protect people from the risks associated with medicines, falls, pressure sores and moving and handling. For staff the lone worker procedures and risk assessments for work place stress and specific training needs helped keep staff safe as well.

People who used the services told us how much they valued it and the high standard of caring and understanding displayed by staff about their needs. They told us that they were involved in planning how they wanted to be cared for and were frequently asked for their views and experiences of the service and were listened to. A relative told us “They give us all the care and support they possibly can, they’re so very good”.

Everyone we spoke with who worked for the service was very clear about their aims and objectives and their sense of commitment to the people they supported was evident in their enthusiasm and pride in their service.

All staff and volunteers received induction, training and support relevant to their roles and had been tailored to their personal training needs. Training was given a high priority and staff were encouraged to realise their potential and develop their skills and knowledge to take the service forward and provide care that reflected best practice.

Staff had received training on safeguarding and all felt they could raise and concerns about safety or practice with the management team and would be well supported. Effective systems were in place for the recruitment of staff and there were regular registration and security checks to make sure all staff were still suitable to work with people in their homes.

8 January 2014

During a routine inspection

All of the people referred to Hospice at Home West Cumbria have ongoing involvement in their care from a range of community services which include Macmillan nurses and community nursing teams. Hospice staff worked from their own documented risk assessment/care plan but also have access to the community nursing notes which are kept in the person's home. All treatment was prescribed by either a GP or a member of the palliative care specialist team.

We looked at the responses from the relative and carer survey and the patient survey for the latter part of 2013. We saw that all responses were positive about the care and support they received from the Hospice at Home West Cumbria staff. Comments included, 'Hospice at Home was an excellent service ' I couldn't have managed without them.' All respondents confirmed that they were regularly kept up to date with the details of who would be providing care and that people were treated with dignity and respect by staff. There were also positive comments regarding the support carers received with one person stating, 'It was good to be able to talk things out with someone who was supportive of us, but was unbiased.' Another person wrote, 'Dignity and respect for the patient and carer was given at all times.'

All medication for people who received support from the service was prescribed either by the person's own GP, Cumbria Health on Call (CHOC) or members from the palliative care team. All medication was kept in the person's own home and remained their property. In the event of death, all drugs were the responsibility of the family and staff advised them to return these to the local pharmacy.

The provider could demonstrate that suitable arrangements were in place to ensure that staff employed in the service were appropriately trained in relation to their job role. All staff we spoke to confirmed to us that they felt very well supported. One person told us, 'There is very good morale amongst all staff and we all receive very good support. I receive good updates, it's the best training I have ever had.' Another told us, 'The buddy system works really well. There are sometimes problems in trying to arrange meetings but we always manage it.'

The Hospice at Home West Cumbria was able to show us that they monitored the quality of the service they provided to people. They gathered information about safety and the quality of their services from all relevant sources which included feedback from people using the service, audits, investigations, complaints and compliments and any other information they received.

22, 25 February 2013

During a routine inspection

We found from looking at records and talking with people who used the service that people were being given appropriate information and support regarding their care and treatment. The Hospice at Home West Cumbria was able to show us that they monitored the quality of the service they provided to people. Carers confirmed that staff asked consent prior to undertaking any duties in their home. One person told us: 'They always ask permission before they accesses facilities in the home.' Another said; 'We have an agreement with the service. I show the nurses where everything is, and show them what they need. It is a comfort to know they are trustworthy and I can leave them at night.' The staff we spoke with also told us they made sure people were fully aware of their treatment needs and where there were different options what these were likely to be.

All people we spoke with confirmed that the service was 'brilliant' and met their 'needs and expectations.' Statements in the satisfaction survey included: 'The staff were extremely knowledgeable and supportive. They were able to keep us informed about the changes in my xxxx's condition', and 'Without them (the staff) being here to make sure they (the person) was kept comfortable and administer pain relief we could not have managed to keep my xxxxx at home.' Another wrote' 'We did not know that such lovely, committed and kind people existed. The team we had were absolutely professional and dedicated to their work.'

During a routine inspection

We did not ask for the views of people who use this service, or their carers and relatives, when conducting this review. The service did provide us with a copy of their own survey of professionals working in partnership with the service, service user and carer survey dated 2009 and the lymphoedema service survey for information dated 2010. We have used these reports to reflect people's views.

These demonstrated that people who use this service and carers were extremely happy with the care provided by the Hospice at Home staff.

Quotes taken from these surveys record that:

'I was impressed by all the nurses who attended and their highly professional approach, without being intrusive in my home: also by their determination to preserve A's dignity without 'patronising' him in any way'

'I will always be extremely grateful for the service provided by Hospice at Home which enabled my husband to die peacefully at home being given every care and attention required to achieve this aim'

'they were lovely nurses who spent time to listen and I received very good care'

'quality of nursing team ' care and compassion was exemplary'

' I will always be extremely grateful for the service provided which enabled him to die peacefully at home being given every care and attention required to achieve this aim'

'Mum's GP organised Hospice at Home support and the District Nursing and Cuedoc [as it was a Bank Holiday weekend] the care and support that we received was excellent in every way and all the agencies involved working together seamlessly'.

'I was very impressed with the willing cooperation of ancillary i.e. office staff to try and co-ordinate schedules, to keep me informed well in advance of intended visits, which gave me the courage to carry on'