“I am delighted that our beloved St Giles Hospice which cares for in excess of 7,000 patients a year has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the independent Quality Care Commission” says Michael Fabricant.

“This is a marvellous overall rating.  Their standard of care and empathy with patients is utterly heartwarming.  We are so lucky to have St Giles in our area and I was proud to take the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, there a while back.  He was hugely impressed, as am I, with the nursing staff, doctors, management and their marvellous volunteers” Michael adds.

The CQC say, among other things, in their report:-

“We found areas of outstanding practice:

• There was strong collaboration, team-working and support across all functions and a common focus on improving the quality and sustainability of care and people’s experiences. The service took a leadership role in its health system to identify and proactively address challenges and meet the needs of the population. Services were developed with the full participation of those who used them.
• There was an embedded and extensive team of volunteers who helped support the service. There was a volunteer strategy, a volunteer induction and training programme. Volunteers were proactively recruited, valued staff who were supported in their role in the same manner as substantive staff. The service regularly updated its policies and processes for using volunteers and innovative practice, and the use of volunteers helped to measurably improve outcomes for people.
• Staff cared for patients with compassion. Feedback from patients confirmed that staff treated them well and with kindness. People who used the service told that staff went over and above what was expected of them. Staff displayed determination and creativity to overcome obstacles to delivering care.
• There were consistently high levels of constructive engagement with staff and people who used services. Rigorous and constructive challenge from people who used services, the public and stakeholders was welcomed and seen as a vital way of holding services to account.
• There was compassionate, inclusive and effective leadership at all levels. Leaders demonstrated the high levels of experience, capacity and capability needed to deliver excellent and sustainable care. There was a deeply embedded system of leadership development.
• There was a commitment to continuing development of the staff’s skills, competence and knowledge. This was recognised as being integral to ensuring high-quality care. Staff were proactively supported and encouraged to acquire new skills, use their transferable skills, and share best practice. The service also used objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) to assess staff competence in a live manner.”