Christopher's Children's Hospice

Updated 20 July 2022

Christopher's Children's Hospice is provided by Shooting Star Children's Hospices, which is a registered charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. Christopher's Children's Hospice provides support from babies to young people up to the age of 21, they support families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care. Their care service includes overnight short breaks, family support, day care, symptom management, end-of-life care, bereavement care and a comprehensive range of therapies and support groups for the whole family.

The hospice is a multidisciplinary led service and children and young people's health needs are met by a range of health professionals during their stay. This includes specialist children's nurses, a medical director, clinical fellow, a physiotherapist, social workers, counsellors, therapists and the care team.

The hospice has nine rooms for children and young people and five flats for family members to stay.

At the time of the inspection the hospice cared for five children and young people within the unit.

The head of hospice services was in the process of applying to be the registered manager.

The service is registered with the CQC to provide:

Treatment of disease, disorder and injury

Updated 20 July 2022

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

• Staff treated children and young people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to children and young people, families and carers and went above and beyond what was expected to provide support. Children, young people and families were truly respected and valued and empowered as partners in their care. Staff were highly motivated and inspired to provide care that is kind and promotes dignity. Staff found innovative ways to meet the totality of children, young people and their family’s needs. Children, young people and families were active partners in their care and staff empowered them to have a voice and realise their potential.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of children and young people’s individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment. There were innovative approaches to providing integrated person-centred pathways of care that involve other service providers.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of children and young people receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities and committed to improving services continually. There were consistently high levels of constructive engagement with children, young people and their families. Services were developed with the full participation of those who use them, staff and external partners as equal partners. The service took a leadership role in its health system to identify and proactively address challenges and meet the needs of the population.

We also found the following areas of good practice;

• The service had enough staff to care for children and young people and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect children and young people from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risks well. Staff assessed risks to children and young people, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided good care and treatment, gave children and young people 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 children and young people, advised them and their families on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.

Updated 20 July 2022

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