St Giles Hospice CQC Report 2017 St_Giles_Hospice_CQC_Report_2017 | Page 20

Good
Is the service well-led?
Our findings
People, staff and key stakeholders were actively consulted with and involved to inform service operation
and development. All we spoke with or surveyed told us management were accessible, approachable and
took their views into account to help agree care and service provision. They also said they knew who and
how to contact manager's if they needed to. We received many positive comments from people and their
relatives about this. For example, "I can say with certainty - the place is very well managed and well
organised;" "There is an open door policy;" "There are good working relationships and understanding, which
makes for good care." All said they would recommend the service to family and friends.
Staff we spoke with described an open, positive and supportive culture where they were proud to work and
felt they made real difference to people's care. We received many positive comments from them in relation
to this and the management of the service. Examples of staff comments included, "Senior managers,
trustees and our lead medical and nursing consultants – they are busy, but visible, always contactable and
approachable;" and "Manager's, lead clinicians – they are all visible and supportive;" and "I love my job; I'm
well supported to learn, develop and give the best possible care to people and their families." .
The service was well managed and led. Defined management and clinical governance arrangements
provided clear lines of authority, responsibility and communication for decision making about the
management, operation and direction of the hospice service and for people's care and treatment. Staff
understood their roles and responsibilities for people's care. They told us they were regularly consulted and
informed about related decisions, changes or improvements needed. This was consistently ensured via a
raft of governance, business, clinical, generic and role specific team meetings and briefings, which circulated
meeting minutes showed. The senior management team and chief executive medical director provided
regular drop in and information sessions for volunteers and staff, who told us that they received regular
supervision and formal appraisal of their work. Findings from the most recent independent staff survey show
that most staff understood what the hospice wants to achieve as an organisation, comparing similar to
other hospices surveyed.
The provider operated consistent and comprehensive systems to check the quality and safety of people's
care. For example, there were clear systems for monitoring, managing and responding to any serious
incidents relating to people's care and treatment through to hospice board level. This included reporting
procedures, which staff understood; such as in the event of any medicines error, equipment failure or
serious injury to any person receiving care. Records showed that all incidents were analysed and relevant
findings communicated to staff, including any changes or improvements needed to people's care as a result.
The provider had notified us of any important events that occurred at the service when required. This helped
to ensure the quality and safety of people's care.
Staff consistently told us that learning from any incidents and complaints, was critical to help ensure people
received safe, good quality care. They spoke positively about the way this was managed and described a
culture of shared learning through anonymised reporting, with timescales for action and learning. For
example, through additional training when required. A senior manager told us, "It's important that we
20 St Giles Hospice - Whittington Inspection report 24 February 2017