St Luke's Hospice Thurrock

We carried out a short announced comprehensive inspection of St Luke’s Hospice Thurrock as part of our inspection programme. We inspected all our key lines of enquiries: safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well led.

This is the first inspection of this service since they registered this location in July 2021.

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 and acted on them. The service managed incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided good care and treatment. Managers 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 five 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, and some did not have to wait too long for treatment.
• 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 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.
• The service was innovative in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and changing landscapes. We heard lots of examples of innovation, continuous improvement, and learning. Well-being was very much on the agenda for the management team, and they worked hard to make the hospice a good place to work.

However:

• There was no audit programme in place to monitor quality, operational processes, and systems to identify where actions should be taken, however this was currently under development.