- Hospice service
Ashgate Hospice
Report from 29 October 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 03, 04 and 05 December 2024.
Ashgate Hospice is a 21-bed inpatient hospice, that also provides a day hospice service and therapies, a hospice at home service, and lymphoedema services. The role of the service is to provide specialist palliative and end of life care and support for people with advanced and progressive disease that may limit life expectancy. Medical, nursing, and palliative care clinical nurse specialists (CNS) work across the hospice’s inpatient unit, day service unit and in the community, together with an in-reach service for the local acute hospital. In addition, people received support from the hospice's virtual ward service, bereavement service, a spiritual care service, and telephone support and advice line. The service was last rated as Outstanding (published April 2015). The report was published following Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) old inspection approach using key lines of enquiry (KLOEs), prompts and ratings characteristics. This assessment has been completed following CQC new approach to assessment; Single Assessment Framework (SAF).
This was an unannounced assessment, which means the provider was not told an assessment was going to be taking place beforehand. During this assessment we looked at all quality statements across all 5 key questions. As we assessed all quality statements at this visit the current rating reflects the findings from this assessment.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 14 patients and their family members and reviewed 8 patient care and treatment records. Patients felt safe and well supported on the ward and in the community. Staff treated them and their families with kindness, compassion, dignity, and respect. They were helpful and approachable at all times. Staff were always visible and available, with people in the community having access to quick efficient care and treatment whenever they needed it. Patients and people important to them were encouraged to be involved in their care and treatment planning. Staff saw them as an individual with their own needs and preferences, their voices were heard.
Patients were supported to be as independent as possible having both choice and control around their care, and treatment. They were encouraged to involve family and people who knew them well in their care. Patients were listened to and encouraged to feedback on their experience of care within the service.
Everyone involved in the patients care worked well together and with them. Patients were supported if they had communication needs, having access to numerous internal and external resources to help capture their voice, needs and preferences. Information regarding the patients care, treatment, and support was available and displayed around the ward, information regarding external resource and support was also readily available and on display.