St Elizabeth Hospice

Updated 20 December 2021

St Elizabeth Hospice provided palliative and end of life care support to patients with a life limiting illness across Suffolk. The hospice is located in Ipswich and they provide inpatient and community specialist palliative care services in Great Yarmouth and Waveney. The hospice has 18 inpatient beds. At the time of the inspection the hospice was caring for 10 patients on the inpatient unit.

Facilities include an inpatient unit, hospice at home service, specialist palliative and clinical nurse specialist service, a virtual ward (community healthcare assistant service), outpatient services and family and bereavement support services. In addition, they provide the Zest service for young adult with life limiting illnesses, delivering young adult day services, support sessions and short breaks.

The director of clinical services was the registered manager.

The service is registered with the CQC to provide:

Personal care

Treatment of disease, disorder and injury

Diagnostic and screening procedures

Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely.

Updated 20 December 2021

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

• Services were delivered in a way to ensure flexibility, choice and continuity of care and were tailored to meet patients’ individual needs and wishes. The service planned and provided care in a way that fully met the needs of local people and the communities served. It also worked proactively with others in the wider system and local organisations to plan care and improve services.
• Leaders ran services well, led innovations and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff were motivated to provide the best care they could for their patients. There was a common focus on improving the quality and sustainability of care and people’s experiences. Staff were proud to work at the service and felt respected, supported and valued. Leaders operated effective governance processes and staff at all levels were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients, staff and the local community.
• 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.

We found areas of good practice:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Staff provided good care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.

However:

• Not all clinical staff had completed safeguarding training at the appropriate level.
• Staff did not always fully record and sign changes to prescription records.

Updated 20 December 2021

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as outstanding. See the summary above for details.