St Giles Hospice CQC Report 2017 St_Giles_Hospice_CQC_Report_2017 | Page 15

Good
Is the service caring?
Our findings
People and their relatives spoke highly of the caring, compassionate nature of staff who provided their care.
They described good relationships with staff who they felt treated them with respect and consistently strove
to ensure their dignity, privacy, involvement and independence in care. All confirmed that staff took time
with them to understood people's care and daily living needs and preferences. One person said, "From the
cleaners to the medical consultant – they are so caring, and helpful." Another person told us, "All of the staff;
they are friendly but professional and treat you with utmost respect and courtesy; nothing is too much
trouble." All of the survey returns we received from people and their relatives reflected these views.
Throughout our inspection we observed that staff treated people with the utmost care and respect. They
took time to ensure people's privacy, dignity and involvement in their care. For example, when they
supported people with personal care, they made sure that curtains and doors were closed, that people's
clothing was properly adjusted or that their personal items, drinks, meals and call bells were accessible to
them. We also saw that staff took time with people to explain what they were going to do before they
provided care and checked that people were happy and comfortable before, during and after. Arrangements
were in place following a person's death, to ensure that their body would be cared for in a sensitive and
dignified way by staff; which staff understood. The provider's related policy guidance, together with staff
training and instruction helped to ensure this.
Returns from the provider's recent care surveys with people and their relatives showed that staff treated
them as individuals and respected their privacy and dignity. They also showed people and relatives felt they
had regular opportunity to discuss and agree their own support needs with staff. This showed that people
had positive relationships with caring, compassionate staff; who treated them with respect and ensured
their dignity and rights in care.
People and their relatives were informed, involved and supported to make decisions about their care. One
person said, "The doctor and nurses explain things; they give you the facts and help you to understand
what's important to you." Another person told us, "There's lots of information to help; talking things through
and written information to help you think about things." A relative told us, "Staff are brilliant – they explain
everything in simple easy to understand terms; It's a very good experience here, we can now make decisions
about end of life care; it all feels more comfortable now."
People's care records showed that their preferred priorities for their care were discussed, agreed and
regularly reviewed with them. They also showed how people were informed and supported to make
decisions about their care and treatment. Training and procedures were provided for staff to follow about
handling confidential personal information relating to people's care, which staff understood and followed.
A comprehensive range of service information and related care advice and literature was provided. This
helped people to understand and navigate their related care, treatment and support options, both within
and outside the service. The provider's on site advice and referral centre was pivotal to this. It provided
twenty four hour, timely advice, support and appropriate care referrals for people and relatives when
15 St Giles Hospice - Whittington Inspection report 24 February 2017