- Hospice service
Marie Curie Hospice and Community Services North West and Cumbria Region
Report from 4 March 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 20 March 2024. Marie Curie Hospice and Community Services North West and Cumbria Region is based in Liverpool and provides specialist palliative care and support for adults with a terminal illness. The hospice service is available to all, free of charge. The hospice provides an in-patient service for a maximum of 13 people, but was operating at 6 beds at the time of the assessment. It also provides day services and out-patient clinics. It provides social and emotional support in people's own homes but this does not include nursing or personal care. There were 6 inpatients at the service at the time of our assessment. We conducted this assessment due to medicine management concerns. We assessed 6 quality statements across safe, effective, responsive, and well-led key questions and have combined the scores for these areas with scores from the last inspection. At this assessment, we found staff treated patients and relatives with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs. There was a strong, visible person-centred culture that was promoted by staff. Patients could access the specialist palliative care service when they needed it. Leaders acknowledged there were challenges resulting from a shortage of nursing staff within the service and there was a process of ongoing recruitment. As a result of sickness levels and vacancies, the service had voluntarily reduced operational bed capacity in the inpatient unit. Leaders operated effective governance processes, throughout the service and with partner organisations. Staff at all levels were clear about their roles and accountabilities.
People's experience of this service
Patients said they had been treated with kindness and compassion and their dignity had been respected throughout. Patients and their relatives were very complimentary when describing the care and support they received from staff across the hospice. We found numerous examples that demonstrated how staff went the extra mile for patients and their care and support exceeded their expectations. We spoke with 3 patients and 3 relatives. The comments received included “nothing is too much for the staff, they are so welcoming and have done wonders for me”, “staff are so helpful, amazing and kind, can’t think of anything they can do better”, “the care has been absolutely excellent” and “my dignity has been given back to me whilst I have been here”. Patients told us that staff explained their care and treatment options in a way they could understand. Patients felt staff knew and understood them and their needs and requirements. Patients told us they felt there was an appropriate level of staff.