Noah's Ark - The Children's Hospice

Updated 28 April 2023

Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice is a nurse led service which provides clinical and holistic support for 350 babies, children and young persons and their families in North Central and North West London. Clinical services include end of life care services, step down care, symptom management, planned and emergency care, and post death care whilst also providing a range of holistic services including family link support, family activities, home support volunteering, bereavement services, transition support, specialist play and a range of therapies.

This support is both inpatient and community based and is provided by a range of staff including paediatric nurses, specialist carers, family link workers and social workers. They support children’s family members through support groups such as sibling groups and parent groups.

The purpose built building was opened in February 2020 for children and their families to receive on site care.

The service was registered for the treatment of disease, disorder or injury and had a registered manager in place.

We last inspected the service in December 2016 where it received a rating of ‘good’.

Updated 28 April 2023

Our rating of this location improved. We rated it as outstanding because:

• 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 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. Managers made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of children and young people, advised them and their families on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.
• Staff always 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.

However:

• The service did not measure the effectiveness of pain medicines, given when required using pain assessment tools as per policy
• The staff did not clearly state in the policy or staffing tool how to measure the level of support required for children and young people at the ark during the night.
• Staff told us electronic patient records were difficult to use. There was a possibility that staff may not access information in a timely manner.
• The service did not have a formal agreement with the local children’s hospital for the provision of clinical services from paediatric consultants at the Ark.

Updated 28 April 2023

Our rating of this service improved. We rated it as outstanding. See the summary above for details.