Alice House Hospice

Updated 4 December 2023

Alice House Hospice is a hospice located in Hartlepool, North East England. It is operated by Hartlepool Hospice Ltd. Alice House has been registered with the Care Quality Commission since 1 October 2010 and provides inpatient and outpatient care for people with a life limiting illness.

The service has a registered manager in place who is registered to carry on the regulated activity of; Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service operates across 1 floor and has 10 available beds. It also operates a day hospice service. The service offers patients pain and symptom management as well as end of life care.

Therapeutic support services are delivered from the Hospice’s Holistic Wellbeing Centre which is set within the hospice grounds.

Therapeutic support services offered include; bereavement counselling, complementary therapies, mindful crafts, a mindful guidance and support group, meditation and reflexology.

For the period of October 2022 to September 2023, 169 patients had used the service.

We have previously inspected Alice House Hospice, in March 2015. At that time, we rated the service as good.

Updated 4 December 2023

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

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 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 7 days a week.

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 access the service when they needed it.

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 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.

Updated 4 December 2023

Please see overall summary above.