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Significant improvements boost hospice ratings

Google View of a two-storey building, brick on the ground floor, beige cladding on the upper, which has gable windows. It is set at a right angle, with a glassed front door to the right, and an area of shrubs in the middle. A sign identifies it as Butterwick Hospice Care. Google
The facility has offered care for those nearing the end of their lives since 1984

Significant improvements have been made at a hospice previously rated as inadequate, the health watchdog has found.

Butterwick Hospice in Stockton has now been upgraded to a rating of good following a visit by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Inspectors found staff to be attentive, welcoming and kind, with safety and risk assessment measures in place.

The hospice's chief executive said a lot of work had been put into "fixing things".

The CQC gave the inadequate rating in May 2021 after inspectors found significant safety concerns in areas such as staff checks.

In addition, care and treatment did not always reflect current guidelines and learning from incidents was not widely shared.

Head and torso shot of a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and serious expression. He is wearing a brown jacked and blue and white checked shirt. Behind him to the right a portrait of a woman is on the wall and there is an open book on a stand next to his elbow.
Chief executive Edward Gorringe said the service had addressed each of the issues identified in the previous report

However, the latest inspection in May this year found the service had made significant improvements, with the registered manager "responding positively" to concerns raised and previous conditions imposed.

People said they "felt safe", while unprompted feedback from relatives described care as being "of the highest standard [enabling] people to have a dignified end".

Chief executive Edward Gorringe said: "It's been several years of work, not just putting systems and processes into place but building the right culture as well.

"The things that were identified in the previous report, we addressed each one in turn and put the work into fixing things."

Victoria Marsden, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: "Everyone at Butterwick Hospice should be proud of their efforts to improve the service."

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