Bolton Hospice

Updated 23 April 2024

Bolton Hospice is a charitable organisation providing hospice services for adults for people living in Bolton and the surrounding areas. The inpatient service has 18 beds (16 of which are commissioned), a wellbeing hub, which provides support to service users including symptom management, outpatient clinics and wellbeing sessions and a hospice at home service for people who are being cared for at home. The service also provides support for families, friends and carers of people using its services.

The service is registered for the treatment of disease, disorder or injury and has a registered manager (also the chief operating executive) in place to oversee this.

The service was rated good in January 2017 following a comprehensive inspection in September 2016.

Updated 23 April 2024

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• Mandatory training was provided and mainly completed on time. The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff understood how to protect patients from abuse. The service managed infection risks well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines and safety incidents well.
• Staff gave patients enough to eat and drink and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service. Staff worked well with other services 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 service 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 mainly access the service when they needed it.
• Leaders had good experience and understood the service’s vision and values. Staff were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However,

• Some consumables were found to be past their expiry date. Substances which were hazardous to health were found not to be locked away appropriately. Staff did not complete regular safety checks of equipment; electrical safety testing was out of date on some items and 2 fire extinguishers were overdue planned servicing.
• Policies and procedures were not always up to date.
• Clinical supervision was inconsistent. Ad hoc training was not always recorded. Staff appraisals were not completed in line with the policy.
• Some staff spoke of difficulties with the service’s culture.

Updated 23 April 2024