Alexander Devine Children's Hospice Service

Updated 12 May 2022

Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice is operated by the Alexander Devine Children's Cancer Trust and provides palliative care for children and young people (CYP) with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, along with support for the whole family both during the young person’s life and following their death. The service operates from Maidenhead and predominantly provides care for children and young people living in Berkshire and the surrounding counties in their own homes.

In 2018 the charity raised funds to open a brand-new purpose-built hospice and opened for day care and hydrotherapy. Since mid-2020 they have been able to provide overnight respite and end-of-life care for CYP and their families.

The hospice has six en-suite bedrooms. At the time of the inspection two were used for day care, three for overnight care, with one used as a nurses station when rooms were occupied overnight. In addition the hospice had two flats where families could stay, a bereavement / end of life area which has a cool room and a lounge with two sofa beds and a self-contained kitchen / dining area.

Services Provided included:

• Day care
• Play therapy
• Music therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Hydrotherapy
• Complementary therapies
• Symptom management
• End of life care
• Short breaks and respite
• Transition support
• Education and training for families, professionals and staff
• Family Support
• Counselling
• Memory Day
• Pastoral and Spiritual Support

The hospice was registered with CQC to provide the regulated activity, treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The director of care was the registered manager.

Alexander Devine Hospice was inspected previously in 2016 under a different CQC inspection methodology and was rated as good.

Updated 12 May 2022

Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service was founded in 2007 providing specialist care and support to children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, and their families, across Berkshire and into surrounding counties in their own homes.

In June 2018 a purpose built facility was opened offering day-care and respite services in addition to the care in the home and shortly after a symptom management service was made available and the hydrotherapy pool was opened. In 2021 overnight respite was established.

Alexander Devine offers a multi-professional approach to the health, social care and education of children and young people who attend the service. At the time of our inspection, there were 150+ children, young people and their families supported in a variety of ways.

In addition to the respite care offered to children and young people at Alexander Devine, there was support for parents and siblings. This support ranged from complimentary therapies and bereavement support for parents and siblings to accommodation enabling families to stay in adjacent accommodation so they could be near their children. Alexander Devine provided 14,450+ hours of care and support for families in the year ending March 2021.

The hospice had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The service receives over 80% of its income from charitable donations and fundraising.

This location had not been previously rated. We rated it as good because:

• 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 risk 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, supported them to make decisions about their care, and provided support for their siblings and parents in times of bereavement.
• Staff treated children and young people 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 children and young people, families and carers.
• 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.
• 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. The service engaged well with children, young people and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

Updated 12 May 2022

Outstanding practice

We found the following outstanding practice:

• There was a strong family centred culture where families, as well as the children and young people within the hospice’s care were supported. Staff were focused on the needs of the whole family and took action to address these needs in a way that was flexible and person centred.
• Service leaders welcomed challenge and had developed an open and transparent culture at all levels. Staff unanimously spoke about the supportive and effective leadership in place both locally and executively.
• Staff went the extra mile in their care and were committed to find ways to make a difference to children, young people and their families. Staff got to know children young people and their families as individuals, and built up a strong rapport with them to enable innovative care.
• The links with local NHS both in terms of increasing awareness of the service and enabling staff to maintain clinical competencies in skills not often practiced in the hospice setting was outstanding.
• The two flats where families could stay, and the bereavement / end of life area with the lounge with two sofa beds and a self-contained kitchen / dining area; were designed, built and furnished to an exceptional standard.