St Peter & St James Hospice praised by CQC for its ‘compassion, kindness and dignity’

The hospice, which cares for terminally ill adults and their families in Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Lewes, Uckfield and the surrounding villages, was praised for its compassion, kindness, respect and dignity.

Health bosses visited the hospice on March 5, and rated it safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The CQC report, which was published on June 14, said: “Staff were dedicated to making sure patients received the best individualised patient-centred care possible, at the end of their life.

“Staff provided emotional support to patients, families and carers to minimise their distress. They understood patients’ personal, cultural and religious needs.

“People’s emotional and social needs were highly valued by staff and are embedded in their care and treatment.

“Staff supported and involved patients, families and carers to understand their condition and make decisions about their care and treatment.”

The CQC report said staff support patients to make informed decisions about their care and treatment, and they know how to support patients who lacked capacity to make their own decisions or were experiencing mental ill health.

It added: “Staff monitored the effectiveness of care and treatment. They used the findings to make improvements and achieved good outcomes for patients.

“Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals worked together as a team to benefit patients. They supported each other to provide good care.

“Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines when they should.

“Staff assessed and monitored patients regularly to see if they were in pain and gave pain relief in a timely way. They supported those unable to communicate using suitable assessment tools and gave additional pain relief to ease pain.”

Barbara Williams, chief executive of the hospice, said the team were ‘absolutely thrilled’ to receive the overall ‘good’ rating.

She said: “The hospice is a very special place, and we pride ourselves on delivering excellent, person-centred care to those who need us.

“I’m really pleased to see that this has been recognised in the report.

“The inspection took place just as the Covid-19 emergency was evolving, which meant we were not given as much of an opportunity as we may have liked to talk and share our evidence.

“Despite this, we still made a great impression, which is testimony to the dedication and passion of our staff and volunteers, as well as the amazing generosity of the local community, who continue to give generously to enable us to do what we do.

“After a particularly challenging few months, this is a great boost for all of us. As we move forward, we will continue to develop and improve our expert services.”

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